Nothing is more natural than to believe we have conscious control over our choices. Indeed most of social behaviour including the criminal justice system is predicated on that conviction. Harvard professor of psychology Daniel Wegner (d.2013 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Wegner and http://www.wjh.harvard.edu/~wegner/) argues that our actions ‘happen to us’ rather than us being in control of them. Wegner is no […]

“Try always,” says theworldly Cardinal Wolsey in Wolf Hall, ­Hilary Mantel’s fictional portrait of Henry VIII’s turbulent court, “to find out what people wear under their clothes.” Katherine of Aragon, the queen who can’t produce an heir, wears a nun’s habit. Anne Boleyn, the tease eager to supplant her, won’t let the King know what

Written by a journalist Dreamland provides a fascinating cornucopia of facts and ideas about that part of our lives which occupies a third of our time – sleep. As entertaining as it is informative this is well worth devoting some of your other time.  ISBN 978-0393080209

Christopher Brookmyre is frequently compared to Carl Hiasson, Florida’s merchant of the comic-crime caper. The back yard of Jack Parlabane is our own dear rain soaked West of Scotland. He’s an investigative journalist who is not averse to breaking the law for the sake of a good story, and has finally been hoisted on the

“With enough determination, any bloody idiot can get up this hill,” observed Rob Hall, the leader of a commercial expedition, on his eighth tour of Mount Everest. ”The trick is to get back down alive.” The particular descent ahead of those on the ”hill” on May 10, 1996, resulted in the greatest loss of life

Josephine Cox hails from Blackburn and she has built a career as a highly successful novelist, frequently being cited as one of the top three most borrowed authors from public libraries. In this story from 2012 eight-year-old Casey’s mother Ruth is a cruel woman, with an appetite for other women’s husbands. His father is quiet