Vladislav Zubok’s monumental account is not just history, but a reassessment of a stand-off that still shapes geopolitics today
Jane Draycott skilfully evokes the strangeness and intensity of one of ancient Rome’s most complex figures
The late Peruvian Nobel laureate, who died this week, was a virtuoso storyteller and a visionary interpreter of his continent’s dreams. This pick of FT reviews, interviews and features looks back at his life and work
Neuroscientist Leor Zmigrod takes a compelling look at the biological and environmental factors that foster dogma and intolerance
A memoir by Merlin Hanbury-Tenison; Sarah Lonsdale on the lives of five remarkable women; Hannah Bourne-Taylor’s fight to save swifts; and Hannah Dale’s tale on rewilding a farm
Two books chart the rise of the chipmaker via its ‘benevolent dictator’ Jensen Huang and an early gamble on deep learning
Nvidia, driving force of the AI revolution; Katie Kitamura’s coolly observed novel of human interaction; the Sheffield music scene behind Heaven 17 and The Human League; exploring Britain’s Great North Road; a romcom by ‘Call Me By Your Name’ author André Aciman; a family memoir of Nazis and weapons science; the untold lives of the Crippen case women; a freshly translated history of 12 Roman rulers; James Lovegrove’s top sci-fi titles; Nilanjana Roy on dream states — plus five books that unpick tariffs and trade wars
This scurrilous, wonderfully detailed potted history of 12 Roman rulers still resonates in a sparky new translation
Sheffield bands The Human League, Heaven 17 and ABC found international fame in the 1970s and 1980s — an achievement made possible by publicly funded institutions
Three books that bring real insight into how dreams create a window to our psyches and mirror the anxieties of our times
As tariffs escalate, FT specialists recommend titles that explain the forces and ideas shaping trade policy in recent decades, including President Trump’s trade war
Rob Cowen’s discovery of a skull near the A1 motorway leads him to explore layers of Britain’s history — and battle his own historical demons along the way
In her revisiting of the grisly 1910 case, Hallie Rubenhold seeks to demote the murderer from his male-centric leading role
The novelist and poet interrogates his great-grandfather’s life story, taking in Nazi Germany, 1930s Turkey and the world of chemical weapons
Cordelia Fine, Charlie Colenutt and Emily Callaci dive into the often unfair and random ways we value labour
The former Vanity Fair editor takes a nostalgic look back at an era when print was king and the publishing industry thrived
Philippe Sands tells the story of his part in attempts to extradite the Chilean dictator and trace his ties to an SS fugitive
A former diplomat’s unflinching account of migrant journeys to Britain advocates for more humane and practical reforms
The Princeton historian on the battle over who says what — and why it depends on power, wealth and the media megaphone
Using an eye-wateringly high combination of narcotics and electric shocks, Dr William Sargant victimised his young patients for more than 30 years
Padraic X Scanlan’s history of the ‘Great Hunger’ and its repercussions is meticulous, measured and damning
A prime minister who won’t stand down, inside the Johnson and Truss chaos, a leftwing rallying cry and a paean to civil servants
Beata Umubyeyi Mairesse’s harrowing memoir on escaping the atrocity is also a broader meditation on memory
An English magus of anti-democratic neoreaction has become a touchstone for the alt-right
Katie Milestone and Simon A Morrison on how Britain and America put their own spin on each other’s sounds
