The acclaimed historian’s eye-opening guide to the ancient world reminds Martin Wolf why classics are as relevant as ever
Jonathan Cheng’s rigorous, revealing history traces the dynasty’s founding myths — and what they mean for the country’s place in the world today
A romance scam takes an unexpected turn in Martina Hefter’s German Book Prize-winning novel, her first translated into English
A vivid portrait of the civil conflict of the 1940s and 1950s — and how it opened the way for the armed groups that still control parts of the country
A hunt for meaning unites the eight tales from one of the best practitioners of the short form
A journalist lifts the lid on how the Johnson family battled to keep control of the asset manager in a history packed with luminaries of finance
Doctors, dairy farmers, failed novelists — how authors’ fictional selves take on an identity all their own, distinct from their creators
From Mary Beard’s love for the classics to the dynasty behind Fidelity and the dynasty that rules North Korea. Plus fiction by Lucy Caldwell, Amitav Ghosh and Suzi Feay’s pick of debuts
The story of a young girl in 1960s Calcutta who claims to have lived before shows the difficulties of grappling with climate politics in literary fiction
Madeleine Pelling’s vivid history of imposters across the 18th century explores the boundaries between reason and unreason
Witty, observant and wildly original stories explore the difficulties of modern dating, dark goings-on in 1950s Chelsea — and a dog’s-eye view of the world
An exhaustive investigation by ‘Empire of Pain’ author Patrick Radden Keefe looks into the death of Zac Brettler and the murky world where wealth and crime collide
The biographer of Keynes straddled disciplines and political parties in a lengthy and often controversial career
Hélène Giannecchini on the powerful everyday photographs of Donna Gottschalk
Writers flee Paris publishing house Grasset in protest against conservative owner Vincent Bolloré
Trove including works by John Keats and Oscar Wilde will be auctioned by family for charity in New York
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The novelist explores the realm between reality and imagination in a dreamlike tale journeying from Mexico to England
The autobiography by the star of hit series ‘Girls’ confirms her talent as a writer and proves she is still the voice of her generation
Daniel Hahn’s chatty, cheerful book explores the challenges — and pitfalls — of matching the bard’s linguistic virtuosity whether in Thai or Tamil
In the late 19th century, the author set out in search of savage seas, shipwrecks and ancient legends. Peter Fiennes relives his captivating journey
A nameless narrator finds connections with the American pioneer of modernism in a confounding, compelling fiction-biography hybrid
As the UK bill flounders in the House of Lords, the philosopher makes an impassioned case opposing a change to the law
An enthusiastic biography of New York art duo Peter Hujar and Paul Thek adds to their growing reputation four decades after their death
To finish her semi-autobiographical ‘The Country of Others’ trilogy the French-Moroccan writer drew on deeply personal experiences of exile, prejudice and her father’s wrongful imprisonment
In a hybrid of fiction and essay, Jean-Noël Orengo explores how Albert Speer charmed Hitler and then laundered his own postwar reputation
Vivienne Ming argues for a change in how we prepare the young for a near-future dominated and ‘deprofessionalised’ by AI
Four of the best new sci-fi novels chart a darker journey across America, including a Marvel reboot, a crime caper that fuses magic and linguistics, plus a philosophical view of a looming apocalypse
Authors are experimenting with new technology and formats to better communicate ideas
Why Naomi Mitchison’s Travel Light gets better with distance.
Beth Gardiner’s angry, well-researched book investigates a profit-driven industry and the environmental debts it imposes on generations
Rene Karabash’s tale of a ‘sworn virgin’ in a remote corner of Albania is a worthy shortlistee for the International Booker Prize
Noam Scheiber documents the debt-laden graduates stuck in low-status jobs who are sparking a new wave of labour protest
The prizewinning author deploys language to devastating effect as she revisits her theme of women plagued by brittle relationships
Two new biographies trace how a once-overlooked justice helped overturn Roe vs Wade, unshackle Trump and transform the US Supreme Court into a culture-war battleground
Fears that AI will strip our lives of meaning are based on three fallacies
The translator’s debut novel is a funny, moving and skilfully crafted story of obsession, performance and the fantasies that drive people to action
