War and pieces

Today’s queues may be digital, but the fight to secure that must-have present and avoid small, disappointed faces is timeless. Tom Howells looks at the toys topping recent (and less recent) Christmas wish lists

Chess sets and backgammon boards are a familiar sight on drawing-room tables, but one expert Highland woodworker is refashioning their forms in beautiful new ways, writes Mary Miers

Issue 417 Dialogue Send your views, using ‘Dialogue’ ...

Did you know that Thomas Müntzer, leader of the German Peasants’ War in 1525, used a rainbow flag to rally his followers? It’s an aptly exuberant image for the radical charisma of Müntzer, and for the

Always wanted to unleash your inner musician? Writer Joel Snape thought he’d left it too late until he started playing around on the piano and found it was just the note he needed

ON A FRIDAY MORNING IN OCTOBER, ABOUT 100 high school and college students gathered in a Utah ballroom to play a game. Some students were assigned specific roles and given costumes to wear. “Governmen