Outside dirty, slushy streets, a melancholy drizzle and a muggy, uncomfortable atmosphere suggestive of nothing more remote than the crisp, keen, invigorating air that is associated in everyone’s mind

A mosaic from the third or fourth century AD depicts gladiatorial combat. Rather than having slender, muscular bodies like modern athletes, these Roman fighters were lopsided and fat The gladiators of

Simon Kuper World Cup Fever A footballing journey in nine tournaments 352pp. Profile. £20. Jonathan Wilson The Power and the Glory A new history of the World Cup 608pp. Abacus. £25. In 1994, a column

This moment is surely imbued with the most global symbolism. It was when, according to the Old Norse-Icelandic sagas, adventurers sailed across the north Atlantic from settlements on the west coast of

Samurai rose to be global emblems of honour and courage, but their story doesn’t always match the myths they told about themselves, as a British Museum exhibition shows

THE ALPINE EXPRESS