Books

Graham Farmelo applauds an ambitious scientific work, but warns that it's not for the fainthearted

The actions of a Jewish gay icon in wartime France were iffy, not treacherous, argues Matthew Feldman

To create illusions, Fibonacci and algorithms are as important as sleight of hand, discovers C.J. Howls

Simon Goldhill warms to the charms of a wacky history tour, despite its simplified viewpoint

A weekly look over the shoulders of our scholar-reviewers

Valerie Sanders delights in an off-duty academic's return to the inspirational literature of her youth

Anne Hogan on an insightful study of the famous couturiere's complex character and singular journey

A reductive approach to social behaviour is bad news for democracy, James Garvey writes

The tale of modern psychiatry's founder dominates this story of changing diagnoses, David Healy finds

A pessimist's insights point to the future woes of the market-driven academy, Professor Y finds

A weekly look over the shoulders of our scholar-reviewers

As status-seeking managers multiply, they pervert the university's core mission, Alan Ryan laments

Roger Morgan can't complain about a study of realms that have faded to 'join the choir invisible'

A weekly look over the shoulders of our scholar-reviewers

Laurie Taylor revels in the shock of recognition as a scholar laments the dying of the light

Experts will relish these paradigm-shifting concepts but lay readers may struggle, warns Graham Farmelo

Two hundred thousand heads are better than one: Harold Thimbleby on the worldwide web of thought

Susan James is impressed by an admirable study of a thinker who retains the power to disturb

Alex Danchev is ambivalent about a selection of images with status beyond their initial intent

Kerry Brown agrees it will take time for mutual understanding as China engages with the world

A weekly look over the shoulders of our scholar-reviewers

Alessandra Tosi on a must-read for the massed ranks who fret about the future of the humanities

A weekly look over the shoulders of our scholar-reviewers

It is ideology, not ignorance, that connects diverse groups on the political Right, finds Joanna Bourke

Barbara Graziosi on a grand historical narrative that fails to recognise the widespread roots of Europe

This punchy work helps to address the denial of scientific knowledge in the US, says James Wilsdon

An exposition of fraternal ties sheds new light on the life of the 'Cockney Poet', finds Christoph Bode

Judith Weingarten on whether a teenage ruler's antics were as depraved as we've been told

A weekly look over the shoulders of our scholar-reviewers