literature is important enough to ban, suppress and censor. From the banning of Boris Pasternak to Ayatollah Khomeini's fatwa against Rushdie and the recent persecution of Taslima Nasrin and Nawal el-Sadaawi, they seem in no doubt that the free thought engendered by literature is sufficiently dangerous to be in need of severe control. Furthermore, and probably more importantly, to say that there are needs beyond the immediate is to extend the scope of what we should demand, rather than dilute it. In the words of the old union song, the cry of the striking women textile workers was: 'It is bread that we fight for, but we fight for roses too.' Culture, including the transformation of experience and the communication of made-up stories is what makes us human, what gives meaning and resonance to our lives. A recent remark by the social commentator Christopher Hitchens on the limits and the powers of the written word may serve as a closing thought on the vitality of literature: 'The sword, as we have reason to know, is often much mightier than the pen. However, there are things that pens can do and swords cannot. And every tank, as Brecht said, has a crucial flaw. Its driver. Suppose that driver has read something good lately, or has a decent song or poem in his head...' 7 Which brings us to a final word on the extracts and recommendations which you will read in the following pages. They are a personal selection from the