Cow’s milk and cancer

A new book suggests that cutting out dairy produce can reduce the risk of breast cancer. Gillian Ross examines the evidence

Soul stealers

Victoria Davenport on svengalis of the psyche in Mad Men and Medusas and Svengali's Web

Brain matter

Susan Greenfield suggests a cheap thrill theory of the mind in The Private Life of the Brain

The radish revolution

New books raving about the miraculous healing properties of food - be it beetroot or aloe vera - are appearing on an almost daily basis. Angelique Chrisafis swots up on the 'alfalfa saved my life' school of literature

Wise children

John McCrone on two studies of childhood development that offer little for the anxious parent

Couch potatoes

Paul Solotaroff's Group: Six People in Search of a Life is excellent reportage, but fails to ask serious questions of psychotherapy

I feel, therefore I am

Antonio Damasio makes himself up as he goes along. Every waking moment, he is engaged in the study of his identity. Beyond the core self - the man who absent-mindedly picks up the orange juice or steps around the furniture - is an autobiographical fiction; he is an actor in a drama he writes for himself.

Consumed by our dreams

Why did Walter Benjamin devote himself to The Arcades Project? Julian Roberts follows one of the great minds of the twentieth century through the shopping malls of 19th century Paris

Darwin’s Worms by Adam Philips

It is a time when the books pages are more interested in rounding up the year/century/millennium than assessing new books, but one notable exception has emerged over the past few weeks - Adam Phillips, psychotherapist, writer of elegant little treatises and unlikely media star.

Capsizing the cradle

Kate Kellaway wonders how Judith Rich Harris' own experiences of family life have shaped her account of child development in The Nurture Assumption.