It’s hard to assess the significance of events ...

“Authoritarian politics and military aggression are a dangerous mix,” says Ben Rhodes in The New York Times. The decision to wage war on Iran was made by Donald Trump with “no legal basis, little publ

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

Leadership contenders are lining up following the death of Iran’s supreme leader, including the son of the toppled shah, while the Islamic Republic persists

Europe’s frozen northeast became a new sacred frontier of holy war, forced conversion and occupation against Europe’s last pagans

Iran and the US: a history of enmity