Sir Peter Stothard, the former editor of The Times and now editor of The Times Literary Supplement, is the latest figure to join the blogging community on Times Online.

A renowned observer of politics and scholarship and a critic who ranges from poetry to the theatre, from Downing Street to the rites of Greece and Rome, Sir Peter will be writing about books, book people, Blair and Bush - plus general observations on the way we are now.

Why a blog?

Rather than a normal newspaper column written as a single piece, revised, edited and published, Sir Peter will be writing for Times Online in a real-time weblog – written on his terms in his own time and open to readers to interact with. We hope the combination of an erudite mind and the speed and freshness of delivery will work for readers familiar with blogs and those just looking for a good read.

We will be moderating reader comments before they appear but we believe Sir Peter’s weblog will become as lively for its reader contributions as for the unusual take he has on literature and politics.

Already, Sir Peter is addressing topics as broad as sex among the Spartans and Tony Blair’s reaction to the toppling of Saddam Hussein’s statue.

To read the blog go to:

www.timesonline.co.uk/peterstothard

Times Online has a wide range of weblogs from music to travel and will be introducing more over the next few weeks. In every case they will be produced to the same quality standards as the rest of the site.

- The Times Online newsdesk and our reporters in the field are producing a news weblog to allow readers to track the conference and our take on news in real-time.
www.timesonline.co.uk/newsweblog

- The music weblog has reviews and comment from our online music writer Dafydd Goff and featured writers from The Times, The Sunday Times and Times Online.
www.timesonline.co.uk/musiclog

- The travel log, features reports from travellers across the globe – families going around the world with a baby, a three-year journey, a Spanish road trip and more

- In Business, the Enterprise weblog tracks the adventures of a small businessman trying to create a new venture

- In Books, Alyson Rudd leads conversations on her and readers' favourite books in our new web log to support the Times Online Books Group.
www.timesonline.co.uk/booksgroup

We hope you will try these weblogs today and often as they mature.

We welcome your feedback to online.editor@timesonline.co.uk

Peter Bale,
Online Editorial Director,
The Times and The Sunday Times