Books

A study of the internet’s bullies and manipulators avoids the hard questions, says Tara Brabazon

Jane Shaw on the women’s rights activist who was inspired by the Bible

Robert Gellately on the effects of the second world war on the Nazi home front

A weekly look over the shoulders of our scholar-reviewers

Robert Lee Maril on the lives of migrant Latin American day workers in an atypical Californian city

Forgotten correspondence is vividly brought to life in a study of cultural links, says Henriette Louwerse

Barbara Graziosi on an ambitious and well-researched study

Sarah Waters on a fascinating yet deeply curious book that has triggered a public outcry in France

A weekly look over the shoulders of our scholar-reviewers

Emma Rees on the social networking origins of a 21st-century political movement

Robotics will affect our societies and economies more than we expect, discovers John Gilbey

Helen Bynum on the unending battle to control one of the most infectious diseases in the world

A corpse is the starting point for a lively dissection of experiences big and small, says Jeremy Holmes

Donald MacRaild on a study analysing the movement’s influence from 1850 to 1950

A close look at a Hamburg paramilitary group teaches Victoria Harris something new about Nazism

The divine is absent in a study focused on our drive to build a better world, finds Keith Tester

Linnie Blake extols a study on films using the technology to tell their stories

A biography of the late Chinese leader details his long, complex career yet the statesman defies easy labels, says Kerry Brown

Bankers swap cufflinks for cassocks in an era of reinvention not defined by pay, finds Leslie Gofton

A weekly look over the shoulders of our scholar-reviewers

National histories can shape recollections of atrocities, discovers Robert Eaglestone

The real Lord Byron was ‘a flabby, effeminate man who liked wigs’, finds Jane Darcy

Charalambos P. Kyriacou commends an epic analysis of a scientific revolution

Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones on the complex thesis emerging from a study of the Histories

Mary Evans on proposals for achieving equal representation of women and men in university hierarchies

A study of private property reminds us to reflect on the things we don’t control, finds Jane O’Grady

A weekly look over the shoulders of our scholar-reviewers

This study of an era of violent abuses of power ignores half of humanity, finds Jacqueline Broad

An argument for a ruling elite based on exams leaves Jonathan Mirsky feeling puzzled

A. W. Purdue on the conflicting interests of the Americans and British

Danielle Sands welcomes a focus on a life stage that has been largely neglected by philosophers

Easy lay the head that wore the crown, despite maternal meddling, says Ruth Richardson

Trudy Barber salutes the scholarly insights gained without recourse to her inner hobbit (not a euphemism)

A powerful book offers profound guidance to navigating a political and ethical minefield, writes E. Stina Lyon

Simon Underdown on our origin story’s twists, turns and red herrings

A weekly look over the shoulders of our scholar-reviewers

The workspaces of pioneering scientists are laid bare in an insightful text, finds Richard Joyner

A weekly look over the shoulders of our scholar-reviewers

Conversations at Nasa reveal the words behind every picture of the Red Planet, says Monica Grady

P. J. Rhodes on a study investigating how the ancient civilisation reached its zenith

Valerie Sanders on a moving dual biography of two feminist icons

Janet Sayers is left nonplussed by a psychology text that raises more questions than answers

A journey into ‘sound design’ strikes discordant tones: Richard J. Williams is all ears

Cait MacPhee on the role of aesthetics in physical exploration

A lively interrogation of the Mafia overlord of marks and associates is illuminating, finds Poppy Corbett

Like the American director’s work, this study is provocative, at turns brilliant, frustrating and far-fetched, says Cara Caddoo

Kathryn Gleadle on an admiring and useful tribute to the life and work of a leading social historian

To become a Master of the Universe, you must work hard but play harder, finds Angelia Wilson

A weekly look over the shoulders of our scholar-reviewers

US literature in the early 20th century reflected the complexity of the nation’s experience of combat, says Angela Smith

It’s all a question of attitude when it comes to interactions between Americans the Chinese, says Eva Shan Chou

Danielle Sands on a collection of philosophical essays that focus on passions, desires and sensory experience

International call centres require workers to erase their personal and cultural identities, learns Lalita Murty

With wit and invention, this insightful analysis conveys the pleasure and richness to be milked from Milton, writes Willy Maley

Aminul Hoque welcomes Günther Jikeli's timely exploration of difficult questions that contributes to an urgent scholarly and moral debate

Are ‘invented’ narratives the way to understand demographic shifts? David Willetts is unconvinced

Academics, administrators and senior sector figures on two holiday tomes: a new must-read and a classic to revisit

Frolics abound in a tale of how the 1815 triumph hit the front pages, writes Sharon Wheeler

Willy Maley on an ‘Eton of the East’ in Nigeria that inadvertently inspired a generation of writers

Alison Stokes on the literature that has tried to make complex explanations of the natural world accessible to laymen