A lucid and succinct chronicle of the US’s decline in status as world leader and the rise of China to take its place

Stephen Jackley’s efforts to steal from the rich and give to the poor saw him come a cropper before long, as retold in this entertaining account of his life of crime

Rachel Clarke’s new book is a scathing condemnation of the British government’s mishandling of the coronavirus crisis

Although unsparing about the pain and fear of living with Parkinson’s in his latest memoir, Michael J Fox expresses gratitude for the astonishing life and career he has enjoyed

Two renowned social scientists have teamed up to filter modern-day America through the prism of 1895

Noreena Hertz’s timely and wide-ranging study highlights the increasing social dangers of isolation and loneliness

Emily Cockayne’s forensic trawl through the history of reused, redeemed and reinvented objects unearths some fascinating nuggets

Matthew Crawford’s new book argues that driving is a way of affirming our personal sovereignty against the march of technology

This staycation summer, our writers invite you on their journeys abroad, real and imagined

Sometimes it’s more important to look closely at the figures behind the numbers, as Sanne Blauw points out in this entertaining account of how we read and interpret the increasingly complex data presented to us

A new history of swimming sprinkles its pages with characters as diverse as Plato, Lord Byron and Ursula Andress

For Dara McAnulty, a passionate conservationist, the natural world provides the meaning and emotion that can sometimes be missing in human relationships

A new book rigorously examines the core beliefs of both the left and the right

It was Catherine the Great who first saw the potential for Russia to become an influential musical nation while also establishing the country as a great and often brutal European power

Tom Oliver’s provocative new book dismantles the flawed logic of seeing ourselves as sovereign individuals by highlighting our interconnectedness

Non-fiction: In this well-argued book, Kate Murphy urges readers to reconnect with others through the lost skill of listening

Swiss author Rolf Dobelli hopes to convince more and more people to switch off the news and turn their attentions to more enjoyable pursuits

Rachel Clarke’s medical memoir is at its strongest when it deals with her work in a hospice

Ten common assumptions about the Irish are put under the microscope

Non-fiction