History & Classics
A People's Church
Jeremy Morris
A richly detailed history of the Church of England from a top academic and historian who is also a priest.
Brainwashed
Daniel Pick
A brilliant and mind-bending exploration of brainwashing and thought control
Geography Is Destiny
Ian Morris
The story of Britain, from its first moments as an island to its possible future
Russia
Rodric Braithwaite
A short and pithy introduction to the history of Russia as we know it today
One Hundred Saturdays
Michael Frank
From the sun-soaked, vibrant Juderia of Rhodes to the horrors of the Nazi camps, Stella Levi's life – told to the author over a series of Saturday…
Magritte
Alex Danchev
The first major biography for our time, from the celebrated biographer of Cézanne
New Rome
Paul Stephenson
Three hundred action-packed years of Roman history, encompassing the fall of Rome and the rise of a new empire in the East
Blood on the River
Marjoleine Kars
A breathtakingly original history of the Berbice Slave Rebellion, the event that almost changed the face of the Americas
A Brief History of Pasta
Luca Cesari
Filled with mouth-watering recipes and engrossing tales, this is the story of Italy in ten dishes.
The BBC
David Hendy
A monumental work of popular history, making the case that the Beeb is as much of a National Treasure as the NHS
The Wordhord
Hana Videen
An entertaining collection of strange, delightful and unexpectedly apt words from the origins of English
The Library
Arthur der Weduwen
Princes, collectors, bookworms and thieves: the extraordinary story of the library, from Alexandria to the age of Google
Exposed
Caroline Vout
A Spectator and Sunday Times Book of the Year, Exposed is the story of the Greek and Roman body – in all its (surprisingly human) glory
The Aeneid
Shadi Bartsch
A fresh translation of Vergil's Aeneid by a renowned classicist and scholar of Latin literature
Dante
Alessandro Barbero
A new biography of Dante from award-winning historian Alessandro Barbero and translator Allan Cameron
Something Out of Place
Eimear McBride
A blistering, galvanising essay from Eimear McBride, award-winning author of A Girl is a Half-formed Thing
The Rule of Laws
Fernanda Pirie
From ancient Mesopotamia to today, the epic story of how humans have used laws to forge civilizations
All of the Marvels
Douglas Wolk
A revelatory guide to the 'epic of epics' from a beloved authority, who has read all 27,000 Marvel comics