Eurofile

From James Joyce and Jerome K Jerome to Eliot and Alice Oswald, a personal pick of the greatest writing about rivers

Humanity’s profound physical and spiritual link with water

A new production of Oedipus shows how it should be done

The story of Lieutenant Yulia Mykytenko captures the reason why the country must fight, why it must win and why the west needs to support it all the way

Our editor-at-large’s rundown of the pick of the week’s streaming, cinema, theatre and books

A good show first time round is back for an ill-advised encore

Graham was one of the most high-profile critics of Reagan’s visit to Bitburg. It was personal

Contronyms – words like ‘sanction’ and ‘cleave’ – are a puzzling phenomenon in English, in that they have two opposite meanings

In the high season Alba is a frenetic, whirling fungal infection of a time

Thomas Vinterberg founded Dogma 95 and changed the movie industry for ever. Is another revolution possible – and what would it look like?

In a tense year, a new Athens exhibition celebrates our precious freedom to vote

Across the US, the authorities are banning books. If Trump gets into the White House, the censorship could get even worse

Our editor-at-large’s rundown of the pick of the week’s streaming, cinema, theatre and books

A play that’s as light and refreshing as a glass of champagne

Europe's greatest ever treasure hunt is over, leaving thousands bereft

Online life has changed over the past five years or so, and not for the better. The algorithm has taken over entirely

The Frenchman won seven Grand Slam singles titles in the 1920s before becoming an innovator in the world of sportswear and tennis equipment

The word repechage was heard regularly at this summer’s Olympics, but its modern usage bears little relation to its original meaning

Joker: Folie à Deux takes music and makes it a medium for deception, pain and lethal misunderstanding

Le Beaujolais, London’s oldest French wine bar, is a timeless haven of wit, warmth and wonder

Constable’s painting has become an icon of Englishness. But its first cheerleaders were French

After co-writing The Thick of It and Veep, Ian Martin channels his most absurd politician yet – Boris Johnson

The male film director who puts powerful females first

The biggest-selling Portuguese music artist in history was instrumental in popularising the fado genre worldwide

Francis Ford Coppola’s hell-for-leather sci-fi epic was 40 years in the making and is an extraordinary film that defies convention

Aunty May’s in Newlyn is a hidden gem where Cornwall’s grandest pasties can be found

In the latest potential blow to Britain’s food heritage, London’s oldest Polish restaurant looks set to close its doors after 77 years

The Yugoslav autocrat cultivated his international statesman image aboard a yacht where he hosted celebrities and dictators

Daring choices are vindicated in the writer’s brilliant new novel about a chess player, his brother and their family