There comes a time in one's life when instead of switching channels when Gardeners' Question Time starts on BBC Radio 4, you find yourself soothed by discussions of wintersweet, sawfly and lousewort. Devotees of the programme will know of Iford Manor because of its garden, designed by Harold Peto to the Italian model, its terraces heavy with wisteria, its cloisters peppered with statuary from long abandoned churches. For those of us who can kill a pot of basil with a single glance, it hosts the most enchanting of the summer festivals, Iford Arts.

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Review: The Breath of Night, By Michael Arditti

Murder, mystery and Marcos all feature as Michael Arditti's gumshoe confronts dilemmas of faith, corruption, oh, and Imelda's footwear

Squadron Leader Peter Tunstall, the cooler king of Colditz who failed to get the recognition he deserved

His death has raised questions about why he was never honoured

US President Barack Obama speaking in Galesburg, Illinois

Inequality threatens the essence of the United States, says Barack Obama

President says he will seek help from private sector if Republicans try to block his plans

Best behaviour, Winston Churchill?

Would Winston Churchill have failed the Tories' new Google test to seek out past indiscretions?

Well yes, but not just because he wouldn’t know what it was. Would-be MPs are being asked to check their online reputations. Luckily,  Winston never had to

New research shows bright lights make us more honest and less selfish

Bright light increases honesty and leads people to perform ethical deeds

It also makes us more ethical and less selfish, researchers say

Ins and outs: Wayne Rooney may be 'angry and confused' but Kevin MacDonald is jobless

The Last Word: Bleak and ruthless reality of life beyond Wayne Rooney’s world

The dream could soon be over for 458 players without a club and those managers on the brink

Refugees: Angela Merkel should offer Edward Snowden a safe harbour, just as the US sheltered Einstein from the Nazis

Germany should honour its debt and offer NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden asylum

World View: When such figures as Albert Einstein fled the Nazis, the US provided a haven. Now it’s time for Berlin to offer asylum to the persecuted

Adetomiwa Edun (Charlie Ashanti) in Complicite's 'Lionboy'

Book of a lifetime: The Lost Stradivarius, By J Meade Falkner

When I was about 14 my brother's girlfriend bought me a couple of second-hand books for my birthday. One was a picture-book of Victorian sheet music covers and the other was the The Lost Stradivarius by J Meade Falkner. She had bought them for me because she knew that I loved music. Indeed, I loved music so much back then that I often neglected to read.

The coffin of murdered Fusilier Lee Rigby is carried by soldiers after his funeral service at Bury Parish church in Greater Manchester

On the day of Lee Rigby's funeral, let's really ask how we can stop such tragedies in the future

The mainstream British media tends to present all stories about conflict through the prism of nationhood. But there is no "us" and "them"

Luisa Zissman in the interview room on tonight's Apprentice

A career in fashion marketing never goes out of style

Russ Thorne on qualifications that could be a perfect fit for chic students

Ed Cowan has been demoted from opening by Darren Lehmann

Ashes 2013: Deep-thinker Ed Cowan thrilled by intensity of battle to come

Australian has gone down to No 3 but will have plenty to write about in his diary

Senior lawyer takes out injunction to cover up affair

A senior lawyer has taken out a gagging order typically reserved for philandering footballers to cover up details of his affair with a younger woman.

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Special report: How my father's face turned up in Robert Capa's lost suitcase

Special report: How my father's face turned up in Robert Capa's lost suitcase

The great war photographer was not one person but two. Their pictures of Spain's civil war, lost for decades, tell a heroic tale
The unmade speech: An alternative draft of history

The unmade speech: An alternative draft of history

Someone, somewhere has to write speeches for world leaders to deliver in the event of disaster. They offer a chilling hint at what could have been
Funny business: Meet the women running comedy

Funny business: Meet the women running comedy

Think comedy’s a man's world? You must be stuck in the 1980s, says Holly Williams
Wilko Johnson: 'You have to live for the minute you're in'

Wilko Johnson: 'You have to live for the minute you're in'

The Dr Feelgood guitarist talks frankly about his terminal illness
Lure of the jingle: Entrepreneurs are giving vintage ice-cream vans a new lease of life

Lure of the jingle

Entrepreneurs are giving vintage ice-cream vans a new lease of life
Who stole the people's own culture?

DJ Taylor: Who stole the people's own culture?

True popular art drives up from the streets, but the commercial world wastes no time in cashing in
Guest List: The IoS Literary Editor suggests some books for your summer holiday

Guest List: IoS Literary Editor suggests some books for your summer holiday

Before you stuff your luggage with this year's Man Booker longlist titles, the case for some varied poolside reading alternatives
What if Edward Snowden had stayed to fight his corner?

Rupert Cornwell: What if Edward Snowden had stayed to fight his corner?

The CIA whistleblower struck a blow for us all, but his 1970s predecessor showed how to win
'A man walks into a bar': Comedian Seann Walsh on the dangers of mixing alcohol and stand-up

Comedian Seann Walsh on alcohol and stand-up

Comedy and booze go together, says Walsh. The trouble is stopping at just the one. So when do the hangovers stop being funny?
From Edinburgh to Hollywood (via the Home Counties): 10 comedic talents blowing up big

Edinburgh to Hollywood: 10 comedic talents blowing up big

Hugh Montgomery profiles the faces to watch, from the sitcom star to the surrealist
'Hello. I have cancer': When comedian Tig Notaro discovered she had a tumour she decided the show must go on

Comedian Tig Notaro: 'Hello. I have cancer'

When Notaro discovered she had a tumour she decided the show must go on
They think it's all ova: Bill Granger's Asia-influenced egg recipes

Bill Granger's Asia-influenced egg recipes

Our chef made his name cooking eggs, but he’s never stopped looking for new ways to serve them
The world wakes up to golf's female big hitters

The world wakes up to golf's female big hitters

With its own Tiger Woods - South Korea's Inbee Park - the women's game has a growing audience
10 athletes ready to take the world by storm in Moscow next week

10 athletes ready to take the world by storm in Moscow next week

Here are the potential stars of the World Championships which begin on Saturday
The Last Word: Luis Suarez and Gareth Bale's art of manipulation

The Last Word: Luis Suarez and Gareth Bale's art of manipulation

Briefings are off the record leading to transfer speculation which is merely a means to an end