The Soviet Union's spies kept it marvellously well informed about America's deepest military secrets.

ECONOMIST: Gus Hall | The

Mr Howard is a marvellously effective House of Commons performer who frequently discomforts the bulldozing chancellor, Gordon Brown.

ECONOMIST: Bagehot

This gigantic volume marvellously conveys the enterprise and enthusiasm that has fuelled the world's most exciting city from its earliest days.

ECONOMIST: General non-fiction

This is a fully felt, morally alert, marvellously acted piece of work.

NEWYORKER: The Messenger

People in the movie keep staring at him and commenting on his resemblance to Don Corleone, and he plays along, parodying himself marvellously.

NEWYORKER: The Freshman

You just know that were you to hear him reading it out loud he would be giggling at his own marvellously extravagant jokes.

ECONOMIST: New verse

She was born in Manchester (a city whose pre-industrial character is marvellously evoked in the early chapters) and was set to work as a cloth-cutter.

ECONOMIST: Religions in history

But then, throughout his three decades in politics (he was 34 when, under General de Gaulle, he got his first ministerial job), Mr Chirac has always been marvellously inconsistent.

ECONOMIST: The cracks in Jacques Chirac��s presidency

But if Asian demand for the best horses continues to soar, his fans may have to go east to see if his offspring are as marvellously fast as their father.

ECONOMIST: Horseracing

When the striker's low cross came in the big defender applied a marvellously delicate touch which set up fellow Scot McAllister to coolly tuck the chance away for his 10th goal of the season.

BBC: Blues maintain Premiership push