Joseph Beuys was never risk-averse, whether in art or in life. Born in 1921, he was old enough to serve throughout the Second World War as a pilot in the Luftwaffe. This meant that he did not become a

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

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

“This tremendous aggregate of a book has many of the characteristics of a Festschrift assembled to honour some Great Influencer”: so, in 1973, the architectural historian Priscilla Metcalf began the f

Surely the Romans, famed for their social culture, engineering prowess, elaborate fashions and careful etiquette, must have worn underwear? In fact, the reality of Roman underwear is exceptionally tri

In Caravaggio’s “St Matthew and the Angel” (1602), the Bible seems to arrive as a shock to those who wrote it. Matthew, bare-armed and dirty-toed, is a fisherman stranded on dry land. Everything about