Six of the Best 503

"We simply can’t afford to do it all, all the while ruling out any more cuts to army numbers. The real gamble with the nation’s security is making a currently purpose-less weapon a financial priority." Nick Harvey explains how a like-for-like renewal of Trident would be a gamble with Britain's security.

Mark Thompson looks at Labour's hypocrisy on government advertising.

'Adventures in Tory Land: Democracy in Middle England' by Katie Barron, says a reviewer on Amazon, "tells us something about both human nature and the trials of being a foot soldier in Nick Clegg's army after five years of coalition government".

"The novel was immediately popular when it first appeared, in 1951, and as its reach grew so did the pool of potential Ricardians. Tey’s dissection of received history prompted readers to question... everything they had been taught." Sara Polsky on the role that Josephine Tey's 'The Daughter of Time' played in reopening the question of Richard III's character.

The Gentle Author visits Boughton House near Geddington in Northamptonshire.

Down at Third Man on Richie Benaud's place in Australian cricket.