The Latest Breaking News from Guy Fawkes

In 1927, at 38 years of age, the expatriated American poet T.S. Eliot was baptised and confirmed in the Anglo-Catholic tradition. The celebrated author of The Waste Land (1922) – that literary paragon of abject nihilism – had pivoted away from the liberal, philosophical underpinnings of his upbringing and education,…

'V for Vendetta' is getting a series-length adaptation on HBO, and it could go dark.

The tradition hasn’t stopped since its introduction in 1795

Incident came amid Bonfire Night disorder across UK

The first recorded event was in 1795.

After their infamous plot to destroy parliament was foiled, Guy Fawkes and his co-conspirators received one of the most severe judicial sentences in English history: hanging, drawing and quartering. According to the Treason Act 1351, this punishment involved:

A dastardly plot is afoot to burn it all down by any means necessary. Sound familiar, asks Guardian columnist Marina Hyde

COMMENT: Thanks to the increasing cost of putting on a public display, 5 November is fast becoming ‘No-Fireworks Night’ – but there’s a good reason why we musn’t let our civil festivals of sparklers and effigy-burning be overshadowed by Halloween, says Clair Woodward

The trouble with Halloween isn’t just, as Rachel Johnson points out today, that it’s the occasion for large scale larceny by the young and conspicuous ghoul-related consumption by adults on an indecent scale; it’s also a loathsome revenant of its former self. I grew up with Halloween in its old…