If you know already, well done. If not, read on to find out about the gizmo with the silly name

This shape-shifting master from the faultlines of Europe found meaning in the chaos of war

New technology helped him to produce the manuscript without assistance, say publishers

Changes include a simplified user interface and a better-publicised API to attract developers

As the Duchess of Cambridge goes into labour, there is one group of people for whom the event is, arguably, even more exciting than it is for the actual Royal Family. They are the royal watchers, self-appointed royal experts who'll go without sleep and food to make sure that not a single moment of 24-hour news coverage is unadorned with royal trivia. But who are these brave men and women?

As so many people have said, Mel Smith, who has died at the age of 60, was a comedy giant. And his talent was evident – obvious – when I first saw him 40 years ago. I was then trying to make my way in comedy at Cambridge, and he, then president of the slightly loftier Oxford University Dramatic Society, had agreed to take part, rather to amuse himself, I suspect. He was by a mile the best thing in it. Clever, and very, very funny, as he always was subsequently.

From romance to the Reform Bill, plus an unlikely tale of the road: audio books by Sue Gaisford

Can this close-up patchwork of social detail explain the forces that moulded postwar history?

'I drink green tea to relax. It's also a great palate cleanser'

Your weekly guide to what's really going on in the world of books

You can log-off any time you  like, but can you ever leave?

Skilful probe into our links with the past

'My mother, she was rubbish at cooking. I learnt from my father'

All you need to know about the hottest literary topic of the week