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Central Europe and its nervous east-west gaze; Simon Schama’s epic history of disease and vaccination; Essex and its notoriety as a county of vulgarity; a memoir by former poet laureate Andrew Motion; the story of a UK microchip giant; fiction by Lorrie Moore, Naoise Dolan and Andrew Crumey — plus Alex Clark’s round-up of audio books
The historian examines how medical knowledge and political force intersect to fight epidemic disease
Putin’s war on Ukraine exposes not only a rift between Russia and the west, but also divisions within eastern Europe
Tim Burrows traces the history of a county that has become a byword for brashness and rebellion
James Ashton’s corporate drama of the extraordinary impact of the ‘Switzerland of semiconductors’ that’s more valued by foreign investors
Charting the rise of the influencing industry and how experts could make better leaders
The rightwing lurch of a crucial branch of government not only stifles liberal causes but is a cause for long-term concern, argue two new insider accounts
Three books — including a novel — overturn assumptions about how politics, economics and science should combat global warming
It is hard not share Brett Christophers’ rage in this polemic against the greed and short-termism of the asset management industry
Alexander Chula’s eclectic biography shows that the African nation has rich lessons for wealthier countries
Wang Xiaobo’s semi-autobiographical account of the final decades of the 20th century in China is both subversive and hilarious
Two books by leading historians do a fine job in charting the path from fanaticism and violence to national reconciliation
The writer confronts family woes — and the difficulty of championing leftwing causes while hailing from privilege
How the wunderkind behind shoe etailer Zappos set a goal of happiness rather than riches but ended his life in squalor and delusion
A comic prodigy who relished vulgarity and made low-life subject matter a speciality, he was always a literary critic at heart
The ‘Moskau Connection’ recounts Gerhard Schröder and other politicians’ all-too-trusting approach to Putin
The British novelist whose swagger and love of literary pyrotechnics produced dazzling, sardonic prose
Writer dubbed ‘the erstwhile Mick Jagger of British letters’ was drawn to the underbelly of society
The story of the fight for equality at MIT in the 1990s is a reminder of the stubborn persistence of gender bias
The podcaster and presenter breaks down the complex issue of additives with clarity and sensitivity but without moralising
Henry Grabar convincingly makes a case for how parking has had a destructive impact on housing, urban life and design
Jonny Steinberg’s outstanding biography balances sympathy with unflinching accounts of the discord that plagued South Africa’s power couple
Travis Zadeh’s account of the 13th-century Arabic text takes readers on an enchanting journey into the angels and demons of pre-scientific times
Three new books consider the country’s economic potential and pitfalls from different perspectives
In an online world, the role of our hobbies and obsessions has gained new urgency
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