A fascinating exploration of travel in C17th India: merchant-cum-gentleman Thomas Roe is whisked away as ambassador to Mughal India where he plays the dangerous (and often disappointing) gam... read more
Kurlansky is a serial obsessionist and always intriguing. Here he betakes himself to the river bank and the slippery struggle between fish and fisherman. (The fish tends to win.)
Encompasses natural events and their consequences on a vast scale, showing how these have shaped human responses, trade, empires... Particularly trenchant as we try to understand climate cha... read more
The highways and byways of the Good Friday Agreement - by a distinguished journalist who spent several decades covering the troubled state of Northern Ireland.
In a remote Austrian valley during WW1, a woman tries to provide for her family after her husband is drafted into the army. Based on the author's own family history. Powerful, succinct.
A powerful novel about an idealistic couple who travel along motorways in a post-disaster era, with a child who questions their values as he grows older.
Edvard Behrends is a senior diplomat, spending time in a hotel in the Tyrol while slowly pushing on with delicate negotiations. A long look at a certain kind of solitude, love and loss.
A life well lived: MC grew up in the East End, hit the stage, founded Stonewall, became an MEP and is now a life peer in the House of Lords. A brave and powerful memoir.