Books How politics lost touch with everyday life Two new books argue politics is too often arrogantly distant from the things that really matter. By Melissa Benn
Philippa Perry’s wise and tender advice for the modern parent Don’t sweat it if you fail, Perry reassures: the point is always to repair minor mistakes or even serious harm.… By Melissa Benn
The life of England’s last great pub landlady Through the story of her grandmother’s rural Home Counties pub, Laura Thompson offers us a lyrical portrait of a… By Melissa Benn
“Off-rolling” shows a dark side of the schools market. Labour is right to want to fight it The practice of excluding under-performing pupils ahead of exams disproportionately affects the less privileged. By Melissa Benn
Looking to the future: the young educators in search of new ways of teaching As the coalition-era reforms falter and fail, some teachers are looking to the future, not to the past, for… By Melissa Benn
How to fix the welfare state From the “Swindon experiment” and beyond, Hilary Cottam’s ideas could transform our social crisis. By Melissa Benn
How to lift a heart: the joy in protest and seeking political change Radical Happiness: Moments of Collective Joy by Lynne Segal, and Riot Days by Pussy Riot's Maria Alyokhina both talk finding… By Melissa Benn
Brought up by a Blackshirt: Francis Beckett’s unflinching account of his father’s conversion to fascism In our world dominated by the hard men (and women) of the new right, the book reads more as… By Melissa Benn
A new wave of feminist manifestos address women and power Can books by Jessa Crispin, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Catherine Mayer and Jess Phillips harness a wave of popular energy? By Melissa Benn