Geography is destiny in this historical meditation on the peculiarities of the English

Doyen of radio cricket commentary will hang up his microphone in September

Matthew Engel tours Middle England in search of the root of voter disillusionment

Academics and students on campus life in the era of ‘knowledge corporations’

A celebrated journalist’s guide to crisp, accurate expression is full of sound advice

In Stoke-on-Trent, Matthew Engel finds a party struggling to answer the simplest questions

With an hour of season to go, three of the nine teams were all in with a chance of winning

A fascinatingly detailed history one of the world’s great scholarly projects

In Rio, records will fall and reputations will be made. But are the Olympics losing their ability to inspire?

Golfers need no reminding of their fallibility, especially on the back nine at Augusta

How has modern Ireland changed the way it views the events that took place in Dublin 100 years ago?

In the resort where winter tourism began, warm weather forced the cancellation of the White Turf horse race

One of the remotest islands on earth is getting an airport — and that could change everything

Boxer’s ideas don’t have to make sense — he just has to hit people

In the year her reign became the lengthiest in British history, Queen Elizabeth still did the business

While much of the developed world reaps the benefits of modern rail travel, Britain and the US are still waiting for the second age of the train. What went wrong?

Match follows a film lamenting the decline of Tests and shades into exposé of cricket’s ruling body

Nebiolo transformed his sport far more than Havelange, but there was no evidence of kickbacks

The net is now closing on some sites and soon America’s fun police will claim two more victims

Vin Scully knows how to make the song sound right, offering context and mood and a sense of wonder