The Last Empire: The Final Days of the Soviet Union, by Serhii Plokhy John Barber on a vivid analysis of the last months of the collapse of the USSR 11 September
Philology: The Forgotten Origins of the Modern Humanities, by James Turner Geoffrey Galt Harpham on a timely reminder of the common root of modern human sciences 4 September
The Taliban Revival: Violence and Extremism on the Pakistan-Afghanistan Frontier, by Hassan Abbas Christina Hellmich on an examination of the enduring nature of the Taliban 4 September
Japan: The Paradox of Harmony, by Keiko Hirata and Mark Warschauer Joy Hendry hopes for insights that look beyond stereotypes in this study of a nation in flux 4 September
Failing to Protect: The UN and the Politicisation of Human Rights, by Rosa Freedman Conor Gearty on why the United Nations is successful at developing and promoting human rights but fails in protecting them 4 September
From Eve to Evolution: Darwin, Science, and Women’s Rights in Gilded Age America, by Kimberly A. Hamlin Ellen Carol DuBois extols a study of a scientific theory’s impact on the pursuit of empowerment 28 August
National Service: Conscription in Britain, 1945-1963, by Richard Vinen A. W. Purdue on a British institution that changed lives but has been largely ignored by historians 28 August
The Darkest Days: The Truth Behind Britain’s Rush to War, 1914, by Douglas Newton A. W. Purdue extols a powerful contribution to the debate over the decision for war 21 August
Celestial Revolutionary: Copernicus, the Man and His Universe, by John Freely A study of heliocentrism rightly acknowledges the work of Islamic astronomers, writes Peter Barker 21 August
Female Tommies: The Frontline Women of the First World War, by Elisabeth Shipton Niamh Gallagher on the women who challenged the consensus of who could serve at the front 21 August
A World Without Jews: The Nazi Imagination from Persecution to Genocide, by Alon Confino An analysis of anti-Semitic ideology illuminates a number of its contradictions, says Roger Morgan 14 August
Cumin, Camels, and Caravans: A Spice Odyssey, by Gary Paul Nabhan Richard Wilk on a spicy mix of autobiography, food history and travel 14 August
Italian Venice: A History, by R. J. B. Bosworth Despite popular wisdom, time did not stop in the Most Serene Republic after all, says Kate Ferris 14 August
The Cultural Revolution at the Margins: Chinese Socialism in Crisis, by Yiching Wu Jonathan Mirsky on how Mao unwittingly helped to stir up and then crushed a longing for democracy and equality among millions of young people 7 August
Apartheid, 1948-1994, by Saul Dubow Alexander du Toit lauds a detailed account of a bizarre 20th-century political experiment 7 August
Political Descent: Malthus, Mutualism, and the Politics of Evolution in Victorian England, by Piers J. Hale Simon Underdown on a meticulously researched analysis of two camps’ opposing arguments over Darwin’s work 31 July
The People: The Rise and Fall of the Working Class 1910-2010, by Selina Todd Clare Griffiths appraises a century of untold tales about life on the bottom rung of the social ladder 10 July
The Story of Pain, From Prayer to Painkillers, by Joanna Bourke Brian Hurwitz on the inadequacy of language when it comes to describing physical suffering 10 July
Arnold Schoenberg’s 'A Survivor From Warsaw' in Postwar Europe, by Joy H. Calico David Revill explores a composer’s symbolic musical remigration during the early Cold War 10 July
Between Pagan and Christian, by Christopher P. Jones Candida Moss on an analysis of paganism from Constantine onwards covering idolatry, sacrifice, godhead and conversion 10 July
Another Darkness, Another Dawn: A History of Gypsies, Roma and Travellers, by Becky Taylor Annabel Tremlett lauds an exploration of the experiences of Travellers in Europe and their cultural contributions 3 July
The New Emperors: Power and the Princelings in China, by Kerry Brown Seven men rule the Middle Kingdom, but why them? Jonathan Mirsky on a study of Party potentates 3 July
Ireland and the Irish in Interwar England, by Mo Moulton Niamh Gallagher relishes a stimulating and valuable study of a neglected period of history 26 June
Ruling Russia: Authoritarianism from the Revolution to Putin, by William Zimmerman Lara Cook on a lively history of an enduring style of government and the prospect of democracy 26 June
Showcasing the Great Experiment: Cultural Diplomacy and Western Visitors to the Soviet Union 1921-1941, by Michael David-Fox Newly-opened archives reveal celebrity guests’ true thoughts on Stalinism, says Yvonne Howell 26 June
Tambora: The Eruption That Changed the World, by Gillen D’Arcy Wood Alison Stokes on a 19th-century volcanic eruption that caused a global climate disaster 26 June
Listen in Terror: British Horror Radio from the Advent of Broadcasting to the Digital Age, by Richard J. Hand Peter Hutchings is spooked by a collection of horror broadcasts from the 1920s to the present day 19 June
Birth Control and the Rights of Women: Post-Suffrage Feminism in the Early Twentieth Century, by Clare Debenham Carmel Quinlan on the social and cultural history of the birth control movement from 1921 to 1973 19 June
American Tax Resisters, by Romain D. Huret Martin Daunton on the history of the anti-tax movement in America 19 June
Infinitesimal: How a Dangerous Mathematical Theory Shaped the Modern World, by Amir Alexander Robyn Arianrhod on a compelling tale of Jesuits, geometry and heresy in the turbulent 17th century 19 June
Malcolm X at Oxford Union: Racial Politics in a Global Era, by Saladin Ambar Hakim Adi finds an analysis of an often overlooked speech reveals much about the activist’s views 12 June
Outside the Gates of Eden: The Dream of America from Hiroshima to Now, by Peter Bacon Hales Marilyn Young on a cultural history of the US from the atomic age to the present 12 June
D-Day through French Eyes: Normandy 1944, by Mary Louise Roberts Victoria Harris on an interpretation of the French experience of the Allied arrival and its aftermath that focuses only on interactions with US forces 5 June
The Deluge: The Great War and the Remaking of Global Order, by Adam Tooze The Great War transformed the balance of world power in unexpected ways, finds Robert Gellately 5 June
Nuclear Dawn: F.E. Simon and the Race for Atomic Weapons in World War II, by Kenneth McRae Life history of physicist illuminates undervalued Britons behind the Bomb 29 May
Women of the World: The Rise of the Female Diplomat, by Helen McCarthy Roger Morgan applauds a pioneering work offering a welcome introduction to a neglected set of issues 29 May
Lord Mansfield: Justice in the Age of Reason, by Norman S. Poser Mary Sokol on the life of William Murray, the 18th-century lawyer, judge and politician 29 May
The Unknown Lloyd George: A Statesman in Conflict, by Travis L. Crosby Concentration on politician’s character and motivation makes for an almost psychological study, says A.W. Purdue 29 May
Seventeen Contradictions and the End of Capitalism, by David Harvey Chris Knight extols a persuasively argued work from a Marxist thinker on tensions in the system 22 May
After They Closed the Gates: Jewish Illegal Immigration to the United States, 1921-1965, by Libby Garland Hasia Diner on the evolution of US immigration policy, its complex aims and intended and unintended consequences for a small group of Jews 22 May
Religio Duplex: How the Enlightenment Reinvented Egyptian Religion, by Jan Assmann, translated by Robert Savage James Stevens Curl on the Egyptians’ concept of dual religion - an official, outer face and an inner, secretive aspect 22 May
War! What is it Good for? Conflict and the Progress of Civilization from Primates to Robots, by Ian Morris Jeremy Black on the provocative thesis that war has permitted the creation of peaceful societies 22 May
The Little Girl Who Fought the Great Depression: Shirley Temple and 1930s America, by John F. Kasson Philip Kemp wishes for more insight into child star’s life 15 May
The Lawn Road Flats: Spies, Writers and Artists, by David Burke Architecture meets social experiment in a Modernist block of flats, Flora Samuel writes 15 May
From Pompeii: The Afterlife of a Roman Town, by Ingrid D. Rowland Rebecca Langlands lauds an intricate evocation of the volcanic region’s history 8 May
The Return of Comrade Ricardo Flores Magón, by Claudio Lomnitz The revolutionary Magónistas offer great insight into life as an exile, says Samuel Brunk 8 May
Zeppelin Nights: London in the First World War, by Jerry White Conflict changed London, says A. W. Purdue, for both ill and better 8 May
Notebooks, English Virtuosi, and Early Modern Science, by Richard Yeo William Poole on how a culture of literary commonplacing gradually gave way to one of scientific record-keeping 24 April
Making England Western: Occidentalism, Race and Imperial Culture, by Saree Makdisi Claire Chambers on how the national imaginings of the English changed during the Romantic period separating out notions of class and race 17 April
Lifted: A Cultural History of the Elevator, by Andreas Bernard Ulrike Zitzlsperger on how the ‘vertical railway’ has changed our society and our buildings 17 April
Vanishing for the Vote: Suffrage, Citizenship and the Battle for the Census, by Jill Liddington New data enrich an account of the activists who refused to be counted in 1911, says June Purvis 17 April
Revolutionary Ideas: An Intellectual History of the French Revolution from The Rights of Man to Robespierre, by Jonathan Israel Caroline Warman suggests that a complex period is oversimplified as the result of a forceful agenda 10 April
The Starry Sky Within: Astronomy and the Reach of the Mind in Victorian Literature, by Anna Henchman Advice from an astronomer would have benefited this exploration of connections between two subjects, says Virginia Trimble 10 April
1611: Authority, Gender and the Word in Early Modern England, by Helen Wilcox Helen Smith takes a tour of a landmark year in literary and religious Jacobean culture 3 April
Everyday Utopias: The Conceptual Life of Promising Spaces, by Davina Cooper Howard Segal on an analysis of six small-scale projects and their participants’ experiences 3 April
Imagine There’s No Heaven: How Atheism Helped Create the Modern World, by Mitchell Stephens Gavin Hyman on the importance of atheistic thought in human cultural development 27 March
The Ambiguity of Virtue: Gertrude van Tijn and the Fate of the Dutch Jews, by Bernard Wasserstein Victoria Harris longs for more illumination in history of an unsung wartime heroine 27 March
Teresa of Avila, Doctor of the Soul, by Peter Tyler Jane Shaw praises a subtle and emotionally astute reading of the saint’s language of the spirit 27 March
Altered Pasts: Counterfactuals in History, by Richard J. Evans Ascertaining the truth behind events is what matters, says Robert Gellately, not hypotheticals 27 March
The Jacobean Grand Tour: Early Stuart Travellers in Europe, by Edward Chaney and Timothy Wilks Colourful travellers’ accounts move the start date for a rite of passage, discovers Claire Jowitt 20 March
