The haunting persistence of anti-semitism is what fuels Shakespeare’s ‘The Merchant of Venice’. A book on Shylock, its main character, offers an adroit slant on modern Judaism by a master literary stylist, writes Mary Leland.

NOTHING will come of nothing, King Lear famously declares as he considers dividing his kingdom between his daughters commensurate with their expressions of love for him.

The discerning readers of Condé Nast Traveller magazine voted Kilkenny one of its top 10 of world’s friendliest cities recently, and if you visit during its festival period, you might even consider a mere top 10 is a bit unfair to the place.