Lionel Shriver's new novel brilliantly describes the problems of on-the-spot reportage, a journalistic difficulty negotiated deftly in two recent books about The Troubles
'The intelligentsia ignored the irruption of religious fanaticism into domestic British politics. In the face of these foes of civilisation, silence is the worst form of cowardice'
'New Labour's top brass doesn't live on council estates, but it might have the decency to check the impact its policies have had on the UK labour market'