Volume 120 Issue 5 September/October 2005

Editorial: State of mind: New editor Caspar Melville wishes New Humanist a happy 120th birthday

Cover Story

New Brotherhood: The recent London bombings focused attention on Britain's black Muslims. Caspar Melville meets some new converts

Sects addicts: Government pandering to factions in Northern Ireland holds some stark lessons for Britain, says Newton Emerson
Prime cuts: Andrew Tudor looks at how DVD reissues and their much touted extras have changed our relationship with film
Matinee idylls: Andrew Tudor samples this summer's holiday blockbusters
Leaps of faith: Padraig Reidy endures some breakfast listening
French lessons: Jim Herrick reports from the world's largest gathering of freethinkers
I may be a Tory, but...: Conservative columnist Simon Heffer makes a confession

Anarchy in the classroom: Too often associated with chaos and disorder, anarchism is actually an ideology rooted in a radical theory of education, says Judith Suissa
Till death us do part?: Weddings may be as popular as ever, but, as Sally Feldman discovers from our own survey, the chimes they are a changing
Champagne Islam: Until recently, the Middle East enjoyed a culture of tolerance, sensuality and debate. Sami Zubaida celebrates its rich tradition
No more Mr Nice Guy: Laurie Taylor on Michael Ignatieff: Having lost his seat in a disastrous election Michael Ignatieff resigns as leader of the Liberal Party and exits Canadian politics. In this piece from 2005 Laurie Taylor looks at where it all started to go wrong... Once a liberal pin-up and intellectual leader of the global human rights movement, Michael Ignatieff has now fallen out with some of his closest friends. Laurie Taylor tracks an acrimonious battle

When the light goes out: Launching our new series of guest diaries by people in the news is BBC Radio 4's chief announcer, Peter Donaldson. For 30 years his gracefully modulated tones have informed and reassured the nation. Now he reveals how he's managed to maintain continuity in a cut-throat world.
Ol' misery guts: Laurie Taylor on the slippery slope to pessimism

Analyse this!: In a field so riven by schism as psychoanalysis, a new book about Freud has to be greeted with some scepticism, says Joseph Schwartz
Out on a limb: JM Coetzee has done it again says Chris Paling
Monkey business: A new book on apes has nothing to teach us about human nature says Steven Rose
Return of the master: Salman Rushdie's new novel more than justifies the hype, says Candy Clarke
Left behind: Nick Cohen reflects on the book that changed his mind about Bush and Blair's war on terror
True Aim: Andrew Mueller peruses the life of the other Elvis
Wrong headed: Dominic Hilton on a 'timely satire' that is neither