AN UNSTOPPABLE FORCE?

At the time of writing, immigrants were the Number One topic worldwide. DISCLOSURE: I have been twice a migrant, once to Australia, thence to Canada where I have dual citizenship. What does all this m

From voyages to battles, gods to monsters, heroics to cowardice, the Viking sagas explore all of these themes in magnificent detail

John Tolan Islam A new history from Muhammad to the present 304pp. Princeton University Press. £25 (US $29.95). James McDougall Worlds of Islam A global history 608pp. Allen Lane. £40. Elizabeth Drays

The grisly fate of more than 16,000 soldiers and civilians during the First Anglo-Afghan War serves as a timeless lesson in hubris and bad leadership

By spring 1941, the Afrika Korps was advancing across eastern Libya towards Egypt and the Suez Canal. But a dusty port town lay in their path