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My Secret Life: Matthew Williamson, 38

My parents were... supportive, creative and inspiring. My mother was an optical receptionist and my father had his own television sales company.

Paloma Faith: a Cuban twist on the retro look

The singer Paloma Faith is known for her bold, retro look. But on a recent holiday in Cuba, she decided to give her signature style a tropical twist. Here, she explains how she did it

Kew here: preparing a garden for the public

Anna Pavord hands out tips and advice to our green-fingered charity auction winners

Malcolm Gladwell: I wanted to be an academic but then I realised that academics are hedgehogs and I am a fox

Malcolm Gladwell is the New Yorker essayist who has also published three best-selling, non-fiction books: The Tipping Point, Blink and The Outliers, but not Jamie Does, which is by Jamie Oliver and is a celebration of food from six different countries. Wake up!

Bar Boulud, Knightsbridge, SW1

Your heart may not leap with recognition at Daniel Boulud's name, but it comes trailing clouds of glory from New York, where he's a big star. Originally from Lyon, he relocated to the Grand Pomme in 1982. Eleven years later, in 1993, his first restaurant, Daniel, opened to acclaim and has just picked up its third Michelin star. In the intervening 17 years, he opened four more New York establishments, and sister restaurants in Florida, Las Vegas and Vancouver. He even, with the Maison Boulud à Pekin, introduced thunderstruck Chinese diners to the wonders of French bistro fare.

Anthony Rose: You can now put Spar's wines on your dinner table without attracting a derisory snort from your guests

Laura Jewell likes the expression "does what it says on the tin". That's because, since she joined Spar as their wine buyer a year ago, she's been busy re-vamping the range with wines that do a job at the price. Spar, which opened for business in the UK in 1967, is possibly not the first wine port of call for Independent readers. Toilet rolls perhaps; in fact anything you might drop into the local store for on your way home. But wine?

Wine: Something For The Weekend?

Under £5

Mark Hix's best ever summer recipes, part 2

Elderflower buttermilk pudding with raspberries

A bit of a pickle: Mark Hix's preservation orders

It used to be the only way to preserve fruit and vegetables, but pickling is still a rewarding option, says Mark Hix.

Pickled shallots in cider vinegar

Serves 4

John Maynard Keynes: Can the great economist save the world?

Revered in his day, John Maynard Keynes was later pilloried as a dinosaur of big-state meddling by Margaret Thatcher and her fellow free marketeers. But now, as untrammelled capitalism implodes once more, people are asking: could the great economist's ideas really save the world?

Cadillac CTS Sport Luxury 2.8T

Beauty Queen: What perfume did Cleopatra dab behind her ears to impress Mark Antony and Caesar?

The combined efforts of Liz Taylor and the British Museum have done a good job of familiarising us with Cleopatra's make-up techniques, namely kohl and more kohl; and we've all heard that she softened her skin by bathing in asses' milk. One element of her ancient beauty routine is missing, however. What perfume did she dab behind her ears to impress Mark Antony and Caesar?

Cyclo-therapy

At the end of October, the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, finally capitulated in the fight to keep motorcycles out of bus lanes, announcing that an 18-month trial will begin across the capital on 5 January 2009.

Day In a Page

No secularism please, we're British

No secularism please, we're British

Arguments about the role of religion in national life have recently acquired a new urgency
Harold Tillman: 'Chinese tourists can save the high street – if we let them'

Harold Tillman interview

'Chinese tourists can save the high street – if we let them'
Working as a jail torturer ruined my life

Working as a jail torturer ruined my life

Meet the former soldier who has joined the political prisoners he tortured in Turkey's Mamak prison by suing the generals who led a regime of terror
The local high street jet shop

The local high street jet shop

Got a spare $50m and can't stand the queues at Heathrow? Get yourself down to London's first private plane dealership
Do you like your doctor? It could be the death of you

Do you like your doctor?

It could be the death of you...
The mysterious affair of how Agatha Christie is teaching foreigners English

How Agatha Christie is teaching foreigners English

Twenty of the author's novels have been adapted and presented with learning notes and a CD
Six Grammys, five years off: Adele puts love before career

Six Grammys, five years off

Adele puts love before career
The 10 Best binoculars

The 10 Best binoculars

From no-frills to bins with digital cameras
Milan for £300

Milan for £300?

A cultural family holiday - on a budget - to Italy's most stylish city
'Black-hole' resorts: Turn up, tune out, log off

'Black-hole' resorts

Turn up, tune out, log off
New Arsenal face an old question of credibility in San Siro

New Arsenal face an old question of credibility in San Siro

Remodelled since winning in Milan in 2008, for all their consistency – and prize-money – Wenger's side are yet to claim a European title
James Lawton: This prodigal son deserves no forgiveness

James Lawton: This prodigal son deserves no forgiveness

City would be putting their desire to win title ahead of morals if Tevez plays for them
Mark Cavendish: Is Olympic gold at end of the rainbow?

Mark Cavendish interview

Is Olympic gold at end of the rainbow?
Apple admits it has a human rights problem

Apple admits it has a human rights problem

After years of complaints and workers' suicides in China the technology giant faces up to the human cost of its gadgets
Peter Moore: 'I feel guilty I'm the only one alive'

Peter Moore interview

'I feel guilty I'm the only one alive'