The Times Literary Supplement (TLS) today launches a free digital selection of 2013 reviews to readers.

Hot on the heels of the November launch of the TLS app – a new way to read the distinguished literary title, wherever readers are in the world – this free selection of highlights includes:

The biggest literary sleuthing story of the year: Eric Naiman unravels an extraordinary hoax, involving multiple false identities, which led to the (entirely mistaken) belief that Charles Dickens had a momentous meeting with Fyodor Dostoevsky.

Between no doubt, reasonable doubt and fundamentalist belief: Emma Smith picks her way through the controversial Shakespeare authorship debate.

The consequences of storytelling: Gideon-Lewis Kraus on the importance of Janet Malcolm and a career that amounts to a “monumental, sprawling, reckless epic”.

Shopping like a Roman: Emily Gowers explains why shopping in Ancient Rome was such a “louche” activity when compared to its “respectable” modern-day incarnation.

After Thatcher: Ferdinand Mount explains how the childhood of Margaret Hilda Roberts forged the Iron Lady.

Elsewhere, Paul Seabright considers the future of feminism; Ian Bostridge explains why Benjamin Britten remained “an instinctive outsider”; Adam Thirwell revels in the “loopy refractions” of Javier Marías; James Fenton finds Titian hiding in plain sight; May Berenbaum makes a humble plea for the bumblebee; and we publish new poems by Clive James and Miles Burrows.

To access this special, app-only edition, all readers need to do is download the free TLS app to their tablets or smartphones via the iTunes App Store and Amazon App Store.

Introducing the edition, Peter Stothard, Editor of the TLS, commented: “Welcome to this window on to words and ideas that are seen from London but drawn from Europe, America and the world.

“The TLS stands for what was once more common than it is today. We believe that opinion should be backed by argument, sensibility by knowledge. The TLS is serious about what it says. It is not afraid of difficulty; we do not believe that everything important can be reduced to what is simple. We reject only unnecessary difficulty, needless obscurity. The TLS aims to be a pleasure for the mind.

“The 2013 selection is not the ‘Best of the TLS’. It represents, as best we can, a sense of what we do and a thank you as the year draws to a close.”

The launch of the TLS app means there are now three new subscriber packs on offer to readers around the world.

Digital access only for 12 months: £75 for subscribers in UK, Europe and Rest of World (ROW) and $115 for subscribers in the United States and Canada.

The Complete Works – digital tablet access + delivered print edition for 12 months:  £120 for subscribers in the UK; £145 for Europe; £170 for ROW; $185 for The United States and $230 for Canada.

Print edition only for 12 months: £115 for subscribers in the UK; £140 in Europe; £165 for ROW; $175 for The United States and $225 for Canada

The TLS digital edition – available for download every week – provides a vibrant new way of reading comprehensive reviews of the most important publications across the humanities and sciences, along with the latest in theatre, opera, exhibitions and film.

Available on electronic devices including iPad, iPhone, Kindle Fire and Android tablets and smartphones, the TLS app is fully searchable, with enhanced graphics and user-friendly navigation. Further features such as audio clips and an interactive crossword will be introduced in due course.

For the best value for money and exclusive access to past issues – including unlimited access to the TLS online archive – subscribers are encouraged to purchase digital subscriptions directly from the TLS at www.the-tls.co.uk and, for the first time, readers in the United States, Canada and ROW can now opt to pay in monthly instalments.

The TLS app is available now to download from the iTunes App Store and Amazon App Store. The app stores all offer the TLS app for purchase priced at £2.49 (UK) / $3.99 (U.S.) for a single issue or £6.99 (UK) / $9.99 (U.S.) per month.

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