Explorers unlock the mystery of ‘pirate king’ Henry Avery who vanished after huge heist at sea
Letter reveals disappearance of 17th century British pirate was tied to William III’s spy ring, Daniel Defoe and an archbishop
September 2021
Islander review – change and contradictions on Robinson Crusoe island
Stéphane Goël’s documentary merges the past and present of this small island off the coast of Chile
February 2021
Top 10s
Top 10 books about castaways
From the dark visions in Lord of the Flies or The Beach to the gentle wit of Tove Jansson, author Lucy Clarke picks her favourites tales of survival and isolation
December 2020
History tells how people act in pandemics – selfishly, but also with surprising altruism
Utteeyo Dasgupta
In his book A Journal of the Plague Year, Daniel Defoe describes 17th-century behavior that is unmistakably familiar today
October 2020
Book of the day
Exit Management by Naomi Booth review – how to survive in London
This compelling tale of people scrabbling for purchase in the capital is peculiarly appropriate to our current crisis
August 2020
The Covid novels are arriving. And they'll be a warning to future generations
Laura Spinney
We remember the horrors of the first world war but not the 1918 Spanish flu, which was mostly ignored by literature, says the author Laura Spinney
May 2020
Reading group
Beyond Daniel Defoe: the real journals of the plague year
Reading group
A Journal of the Plague Year may be fictional, but it's not untrue
Reading group
Defoe's Plague Year was written in 1722 but speaks clearly to our time
The end of coronavirus: what plague literature tells us about our future
April 2020
Books blog
A Journal of the Plague Year by Daniel Defoe is our reading group book for May
This 1722 ‘potrait of the face of London now indeed strangely altered’ offers a fascinating perspective on our current crisis
March 2020
Howard Jacobson: 'I am a social distancer by instinct'
The novelist was in Tenerife when news of Covid-19 hit. He reflects on a month of uncertainty and the search for hand sanitiser
What I'm really watching
What I'm really watching: Monkees, Thunderbirds and kids' TV of the 70s
In the latest of our new series revealing the strange viewing habits brought on by self-isolation, one writer finds time to plumb the deepest depths of the 70s kids’ TV schedules
Lockdown culture
Got 150 hours? Great audiobooks to listen to on lockdown
Yes, it’s grim. And the British way with contagion has barely changed since 1665
Marina Hyde
Notebook
Beloved aunts, Defoe on plague panic and farewell to Fiona MacCarthy
Rachel Cooke
December 2019
Top 10s
Top 10 books about loneliness
At what can be one of the loneliest times of year, a historian of emotionpicks the best books about a modern malady
April 2019
Observer book of the week
Good Morning, Mr Crusoe by Jack Robinson review – the road to Brexit starts here
Robinson Crusoe at 300: why it’s time to let go of this colonial fairytale
November 2018
Weatherwatch
Weatherwatch: 1703 storm was first media weather event of modern age
The Great Storm chronicled by Daniel Defoe is now believed to have been a category 2 hurricane
