Flawed but Thrilling Anatomy of Empire
This study of empire building is imaginative and vivid, but has a loose grip on detail
Politics, Ideas and the Arts
Poet Laureate of the English Shires
A hundred and fifty years after his death, John Clare remains the greatest lyricist of country life
Burke’s Enduring Brilliance
A new book shows how Edmund Burke's thoughts are still relevant to our present discontents
A Putrid Pact between Devils
An excellent book on the deal between Hitler and Stalin that shocked the world 75 years ago
Talking ’Bout My Generation
Three memoirs explain what it was like growing up in the postwar era and how their generation shaped Britain and America
The Global Race isn’t a Sprint
A perfect book for anyone suffering from a surfeit of Thomas Piketty
Molly Bloom’s Day in Court
The epic story of the publication of James Joyce's Ulysses is well-deserving of its own biography
First Novel on a Booker Mission
Zia Haider Rahman is erudite and articulate - but no novelist
Genius from the Bike Factory
Albin Planinc, the tragic Slovenian
Musical Testosterone at the Proms
William Walton was inspired by sexual energy