MODERN ART OCFORD/SUZANNE TREISTER; SUZANNE TREISTER, COURTESY OF ...

Adrian Tchaikovsky returns to the darkly exuberant world of The Tyrant Philosophers

In the early 1860s Sicily was incorporated into the Kingdom of Italy. Soon after, visitors to the island discovered what they believed was a criminal fraternity at work in Palermo and its environs. Th

Another of Swaffer’s great friends was the artist and occultist Austin Osman Spare (1886-1956; see FT144:34-40), of whom he first became aware by chance in 1904, when, as a brilliant youngster, Spare

Marjorie Bowen Black Magic 368pp. Vintage. Paperback, £9.99. Marjorie Bowen Julia Roseingrave 256pp. British Library. Paperback, £9.99. Born in 1885, Marjorie Bowen wrote her first novel, The Viper of

Sibyls , the book born of Ruth Fainlight’s poems and Leonard Baskin’s prints, became a memento of friendship, beauty and sorrow for its author