The cleverness of crickets, crows, cockatoos: a fascinating study of the relationship between genes and behaviour. (The book is published in the US as some eagle-eyed readers will perceive).
The first-person recollections of a foot soldier in the Austrian Army, fresh from his student days at Cambridge, grappling with the stirrings of a forbidden sexuality and the formation of a ... read more
The pitfalls of cultural fantasies of the north: this cultural history, rich with travellers' tales and legends, is entertaining but also disturbing as myth, reality and politics rub uncomfo... read more
Slim but far-reaching memoir of the author's brush with suicide, framed as the consequence of familial trauma and isolation. Superbly written, this bears honourable comparison with William S... read more
Elena Zelayeta, a blind chef born in Mexico; Marcella Hazan, whose book on Italian cooking is still monumental; Norma Shirley's take on Jamaican cuisine et al: a joyous celebration of these... read more
The first translation by a woman, using Arabic and French sources, with detailed notes and commentary. Beautifully illustrated with Arab and Persian works of art as well as many drawn from p... read more
A companion volume to his Johann Sebastian Bach: The Learned Musician (pbk £25), tracing Bach's evolution as a composer and looking deeply into his creative process.