His best-selling novels illuminate the shadowy organisations that supposedly run the world. But Dan Brown was “honoured” to receive an invitation to join the Freemasons, the arcane fraternity whose tentacles are said to extend into the highest echelons of power.

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Cloud Atlas novelist David Mitchell to co-translate breakthrough Japanese 'autism memoir'

The Cloud Atlas author David Mitchell and his wife have co-translated an acclaimed book, written by a Japanese child, about his experience of growing up with autism.

Hugh Grant said it was “fun” play a darker role on Cloud Atlas

Hugh Grant shows his dark side in multiple Cloud Atlas roles

Hugh Grant said last night it was "fun" to bring out a darker side for his multiple roles in the screen adaptation of Cloud Atlas, rather than the bumbling English gent he normally plays.

Dan Brown whose long-awaited The Lost Symbol sold more than a million copies in the UK alone was one of the few top writers to notch up seven-figure sales in hardback.

Da Vinci Code author Dan Brown tackles Dante's Inferno for new book

His most famous book found Jesus’s bloodline, now Dan Brown is taking his readers into hell following the surprise announcement of a new book, inspired by Dante’s Divine Comedy.

Daniel Day-Lewis, center, as Abraham Lincoln, in a scene from the film, 'Lincoln'

Daniel Day-Lewis stars in the next (post-Obama) presidential drama

Apart from the mostly-forgotten musical Nine, the last most of us saw of Daniel Day-Lewis was him screaming "I. Drink. Your. Milkshake!" into Paul Dano's face. The Oscar-winner's next role is something of a departure from oil prospector Daniel Plainview – he's the star of Steven Spielberg's forthcoming Lincoln (out 25 January), a biopic of Abraham Lincoln's battle to end slavery.

Tom Hanks to make Broadway debut in Lucky Guy

Hollywood actor Tom Hanks will make his debut on Broadway playing a tabloid journalist in the play Lucky Guy.

EL James' Fifty Shades Of Grey is fastest-ever seller

Author EL James - behind publishing phenomenon Fifty Shades Of Grey - has become the first writer to see three of her books each sell in excess of 100,000 paperback copies in a week.

We Bought A Zoo (PG)

Starring: Matt Damon, Scarlett Johansson

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Stephen Daldry, 129 mins (12)

Lock this one up, and throw away the key

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (12A)

Extremely long and in need of a good slap

Archie Bland: Let's make the Oscars a ceremony you can sit through

I've always viewed the Oscars roughly the way I view Formula One: I'm quite interested in knowing the results, but the process by which they're produced is basically unwatchable. Over here, where things are still amateur enough that something is liable to go wrong – see Freddie Starr's recent inscrutable performance at the Comedy Awards – they're still reasonably entertaining.

James Lovell: Calculations in the Apollo 13 commander's checklist were crucial to the return to Earth

Nasa probes Apollo 13 commander's right to sell flight checklist

Nasa is investigating whether the Apollo 13 commander, James Lovell, has the right to sell a checklist from the flight that includes his handwritten calculations crucial in guiding the damaged spacecraft back to Earth.

Screen Talk: Birth of a behemoth

Hollywood is abuzz with the latest hot coupling and it's not even talent bed-hopping causing the chins to wag.

Larry Crowne (12A) / The Conspirator (12A) 2/5, 2/5

Starring: Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Pam Grier / Starring: James McAvoy, Robin Wright, Evan Rachel Wood

Recession, as seen by Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts

The highest-grossing star in the world and America's sweetheart can feel our pain, they tell Gill Pringle ahead of their new movie
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National archives: Edward VIII’s phone calls - and how MI5 bugged them

Edward VIII’s phone calls - and how MI5 bugged them

Newly unearthed papers reveal a shocking extra dimension to the constitutional crisis over monarch’s abdication
Sent down at the Old Bailey: A tour of the world's most famous court

Sent down at the Old Bailey

A tour of the world's most famous court
Hollywood's random acts of red-carpet kindness

Hollywood's random acts of red-carpet kindness

The Hangover actor Zach Galifianakis’s date for his movie premieres isn’t arm candy  – it’s his 87-year-old friend who he saved from homelessness
James Lawton: Sergio Garcia cracks as major fault line opens up again

James Lawton

Sergio Garcia cracks as major fault line opens up again
Dylan Hartley: Northampton have spent the season proving all our critics wrong

Dylan Hartley talks tough

Northampton have spent the season proving all our critics wrong
Watch out Watford: Here comes the secretive Bilderberg Group

Watch out Watford: Here comes the secretive Bilderberg Group

A meeting of global power brokers in a Hertfordshire hotel is exciting conspiracy theorists, but what are they really about?
'The ultimate all-in-one home entertainment system': Microsoft finally unveils its Xbox ONE console

'The ultimate all-in-one home entertainment system'

Microsoft finally unveils its Xbox ONE console
Plenty of Fish dating site founder pulls 'Intimate Encounters' option to ward off sleazy men

Plenty of sleaze

Dating website pulls intimate 'hook-up' section to curb harassment
Inferno author Dan Brown 'honoured' to be invited to join the Freemasons

The Freemasons’ Code

Dan Brown reveals the message that told him door to the lodge is open
Not secure any more: G4S boss heads for exit at last

Not secure any more: G4S boss heads for exit at last

Nick Buckles survived the Olympics débâcle and a £5bn bid fiasco but a profit warning finally triggered his downfall
How to say ‘I’m a sellout’: Tumblr’s David Karp’s message of reassurance to his staff sounded very familiar

How to say ‘I’m a sellout’

Tumblr’s David Karp’s message of reassurance to his staff sounded very familiar
Why clubs are keen to take a stand

Why clubs are keen to take a stand

There's a real desire around the grounds for safe standing. But will the authorities listen?
In the end the fans decided Tony Pulis had made a pig's ear of the job at Stoke City

In the end the fans decided Tony Pulis had made a pig's ear of the job at Stoke City

Disillusion with a siege mentality and negative playing style made change inevitable
James Lawton: The James Hunt I knew is the subject of a new F1 movie

James Lawton: The James Hunt I knew is the subject of a new F1 movie

British driver was fascinating man whose epic duel with Niki Lauda in 1976 was typical of an era of glamour and glory – but also the ever-present threat of death
Stuart Hogg: Ready to climb his own Everest

Stuart Hogg: Ready to climb his own Everest

Lions' cub, 20, joins long line of players from Scottish borders club Hawick given opportunity to make his mark at highest level