Historical events, finding a dusty old book or debates at the dinner table: anything can inspire a Nobel Laureate. So what makes an economist tick?

From Wales to Syria, fortresses are monuments to an age of chivalry — but some are only castles in the air

A newly discovered fragment casts light on the Biblical story of Abraham's sacrifice of his son

The Chief Rabbi, Jonathan Sacks, tells Daniel Johnson why he now considers anti-Semitism a serious threat, but remains hopeful about the future of the Jews in Israel and the diaspora

Here in Britain, and all over the world, men are killing women on a point of 'honour'. Why do we tolerate the intolerable?

Liberals and feminists do not consider the oppression of women a pressing concern when done in the name of culture or religion

As Middle East countries rush to acquire nuclear weapons, the Cold War stalemate will not apply in the region

Could anxiety over the future of the West be behind the publication of so many books on the fall of the Roman Empire?

The excitement of learning has been lost in our schools. It's time to end the intellectual poverty of the national curriculum

London became a better place to live after we became involved with our local church in a quest for a good school for our sons