The big debate

There's plenty of intellectual discussion in the world of books this week: Were Newton and Einstein among the great undiagnosed sufferers of autism? How do you think Trafalgar Square should be used when it's finished - and is America good or evil? Find out in the Empire Strikes Back.

Horrible Histories Roadshow

'The Soviet prison officers in Latvia were utterly brutal. Every prisoner who came to them was tortured. But they weren't the carefully planned tortures that the Nazis used. The Soviet jailers beat prisoners with railings broken from fences; crushed their fingers in the doors of their cells; put thin books over their heads and beat them with hammers (because they wanted to cause pain, not death from a fractured skull).' This is not Antony Beevor, but a kiddiefriendly version by Terry Deary .
It's taken from The Woeful Second World War, one of 30 Horrible Histories, which have been selling in their millions since they first appeared 10 years ago. The facts and jokes, perked up by Neil Tonge's crudely satirical cartoons are irresistible to children - alright then, boys aged between eight and 12 - and not unappealing to adults. Terry Deary brings out the actor in himself at two performances at the British Museum.

British Museum, Great Russell Street, WC1 (020-7323

8181). Sat 31 May, 11.30am & 3pm, booking essential, £3.

Orange Prize Reading Evening

You're eligible for the £30,000 Orange Prize For Fiction, regardless of nationality, age or where you live, so long as you write in English and you're a woman. This positive discrimination has meant in the past that female writers including Nadine Gordimer, Anita Brookner and Ruth Rendell have refused to allow their publishers to submit their novels. Even Fay Weldon and Linda Grant, who won the prize three years ago, have expressed doubts, though Grant did not refuse the prize.

On this year's shortlist there are at least two genuinely good, strong contenders however. The favourite is American Donna Tartt, with her second novel, The Little Friend. Set in Mississippi, it tells the story of a girl who grows up trying to discover the identity of her brother's murderer after his body is found hanging from a tree. Second favourite is The Autograph Man by Zadie Smith (left), also her second novel. Also shortlisted are Valerie Martin with Property, Anne Donovan with Buddha Da and Shena Mackay with Heligoland. Carol Shields (shortlisted for Unless) will be represented by her daughters. Each author reads from and discusses their books at this pre-Awards reading evening, chaired by Orange Prize director Kate Mosse.

Talks

The Mind's Making

According to Simon Baron-Cohen, professor of psychology and psychiatry at Cambridge and author of The Essential Difference: Men, Women And The Extreme Male Brain, autism is a form of 'extreme male' behaviour. He also asserts that Newton and Einstein were among the great undiagnosed suffererers, and that autistic intelligence has great virtues.

Charlotte Moore, journalist and the mother of two autistic sons, and Peter Hobson, professor of developmental psychology at the Tavistock and author of Cradle Of Thought, discuss the possible causes of autism and whether early intervention can help. Chaired by Jill Dawson, author of A Wild Boy - a novel based on the story of the first documented autistic child.

Square Politics: Conference

Within the next few months the whole of the north section of Trafalgar Square will become pedestrianised and known as The People's Square alongside a major redevelopment of The National Gallery. The Square is to become, say the organisers, a 'space for meeting, celebration, art and demonstration'. A conference brings together the great and the good of municipal culture, including Linda Colley, Antony Gormley, Tiffany Jenkins, Charles Saumerez-Smith, Peter Heath, Rowan Moore, Sandy Nairne and Richard Sennett to discuss how to develop the character of the Square, and whether it is possible to impose a set of values on a geographical site and whether or not pedestrianisation is a good thing.

Faily Knots and Abusive Ties: Minor Mishaps

How filmmakers represent family dysfunction, from comic misunderstanding to downright abuse, is the theme of a talk between psychoanalyst Andrea Sabbadini, film historian Peter Evans and Paul Clements, principal of Mountview Theatre.

Empire Strikes Back Is America good or evil? Can empires be inspired by principles of liberty? Niall Ferguson, who published Empire: How Britain Made The Modern World (with a telly series), debates with Bill Emmott, editor-in-chief of The Economist and author of 20:21 Visions, Robin Blackburn, professor of sociology at Essex University and founding editor of New Left Review. Chaired by Ngaire Woods, fellow in politics and international relations at Oxford.