Culture
Mad, bad and dangerous to know
Two centuries after his death, why is Lord Byron still seductive?
The poet is celebrated where he spent his period of exile
Wanna bet?
A famous forecaster takes on the establishment
Nate Silver offers praise for contrarians and scorn for intellectual sheep
Cables from Kabul
Three years ago this month America withdrew from Afghanistan
A trio of new books tries to make sense of the war and its aftermath
The sports page
Making sense of the world’s most dangerous horse race
Il Palio is chaotic and corrupt—and full of community spirit
The test is history
A love story, shaped by Ukraine’s travails
A Ukrainian journalist imagines a couple brought together and wrenched apart in the 20th century
Dollar Bill
What Bill Gates reveals about other billionaires
An unusual biography of the technologist-turned-philanthropist
In defence of the “dirty documentary”
Reality TV is irritating but irresistible
There is more to the format than meets the eye
Back Story
On some holidays, beauty and bloodshed are entwined
In grand old cities like Verona, your gelato comes with a moral education
Guinea pigs
The dark history of abuse in medical research
People who expose malpractice are rarely considered heroes
On the make
The mysterious people who have shaped the books people read
Two new accounts examine the fascinating lives of books’ forgotten creators and boosters