Books

Martin Cohen is unimpressed by an attempt to generalise about the philosophical inclinations of an entire nation

A collection of erudite essays examines the impact of the great tiger of English letters on other writers, learns Richard J. Larschan 

The advent of sound, of TV, of digital – the doomsayers have always pronounced on the demise of the flicks, Philip Kemp discovers

Niamh Gallagher on a body that, in chipping away at imperial rule, shaped the modern world

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Pigment and poison mix in a study of Renaissance artists’ nascent fame, says Tracey Warr

Jon Turney lauds a fresh telling of a towering achievement of 20th-century science

Helen Fulton relishes a richly researched study of elaborate meals full of glamour and excess

Faking it is fun, but there’s no such thing as a victimless crime, writes Richard Howells

The medieval weather forecast is climatically wrong, argues Peter J. Smith 

As war raged, health and safety were abandoned – with devastating results, writes Stephen Halliday

Personal items belonging to the literary sisters illuminate their wild genius, says Shahidha Bari

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SUVs but no Porsches: success is relative when keeping up with the Joneses, Jessi Streib finds

A brilliant study of the narcissistic Nazi’s diaries offers fresh perspectives, says Robert Gellately

Elizabeth Greene lauds an eminent critic’s fine close reading of Wallace Stevens and others

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Yvonne Sherratt on a study of how imperial history has been one of the most frequent and extensive elements of human experience

Helen Bynum on a doctor who is gently but firmly arguing against those who are harming children’s health through their religion

Studies of library lending records are overdue, says Faye Hammill

James Stevens Curl on a well-researched study of the display of and visitor reactions to exhibits

A sexology for our age examines a global and multifaceted part of humanity, says Sally R. Munt

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Danny Dorling gets to grips with in-your-face, full-frontal calculations of carnality

Why do some literary works enjoy long afterlives, while other disappear from the ‘canon’? Jane Darcy finds out

This manifesto calls for a radical rethink of the relationship between producer and consumer of the built environment, writes Flora Samuel

A gifted scientific essayist’s anecdotes about faith, friends and physicists delight Graham Farmelo

Uttara Natarajan on a moral, informative and entertaining study

Neil Gregor extols a timely and cogent investigation

Noel-Ann Bradshaw is inspired by a book with all the right ingredients for explaining a tricky subject

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The science of gravitational singularities is a head-spinning work in progress, says Tara Shears

Jules Pretty laments the sad decline and impoverishment of the UK’s natural diversity

A philosophical investigation of romance leaves Jane O’Grady feeling frustrated and unsatisfied

Jonathan Mirsky enjoys a bowlful of insights into the origins and uses of the utensil that Asia made its own

Female terrorism preoccupies us, and this timely exploration provides stimulating insights, Ulrike Zitzlsperger discovers

Karen Boyle on a work that uses pornography as a catalyst for thinking about philosophical thinking rather than as a point of analysis in itself

Time is critical if we are to find a workable, affordable and fair way of dealing with carbon emissions, Steven Yearley discovers

A fine new biography of the Protestant zealot opens up the vast panorama of the Reformation, finds Lucy Wooding

How can the US re-engage with notions of social justice and equal opportunity? Angelia R. Wilson analyses one response

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Discover the Tuscan metropolis in a study suffused with all the vitality of the Palio, says Philip Cooke

Robert Gellately extols a life history of the Soviet strongman

The idea of equilibrium is a dangerous delusion, finds Stewart Lansley

Caught between two cultures, six teenagers turn to Arabic to feel at home, finds Mafruha Mohua

The Victorians found much profit in the grave, and Boz was there to document its blackly comic excess, writes Ruth Richardson

M. Emranul Haque on why hard information is the best way to stop the backhanders

Richard Bosworth has front-row seats for a subtle investigation of totalitarian cultural practice

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Work to bring creatures back from the dead is a tale of wonder and warning, writes Tiffany Taylor

The memory of a Belgian heroine differed from the woman herself, Niamh Gallagher discovers

A remarkable investigation into the global traffic in cheap shelf-fillers uncovers both meanness and meaning in the market, says Louise Crewe

Paul Bernal clicks with a maverick thinker who shows how business and governments are building a global surveillance network and how we can fight back

Separating the past from philosophy is the key to understanding the period, learns Caroline Warman

Richard J. Williams on an entertaining study that takes in Las Vegas, Jerusalem and the online worlds of Second Life

Tom Palaima on an examination of the conflicts that have been raging since the 1960s

Superheroes enliven a study of the history of red tape and how it shapes our lives, says Fred Inglis

Ravinder Kanda on a convincing hypothesis written in a witty style

Peter Wothers on a thoroughly researched examination of the connections between two different kinds of science

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