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The historian and biographer has written an unsentimental, surprising account of Nicholas II from his abdication in March 1917 to his execution
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Nicholas Lezard’s paperback of the week: wince-inducing stories of amputations without anaesthesia and sinister policies to withhold drugs from sections of society
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The French literary sensation and debut author of The End of Eddy on growing up without books
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The historian and presenter on travels, mud-stained notebooks and the most expensive bottle of wine she ever bought
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Cantankerous bards, remote islands and a US billionaire star in a novel steeped in Scots heritage
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A searingly honest, humane and challenging book to prompt a wider conversation about death and dying
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Haley’s influential family saga about 18th century slavery is back on TV, but its literary reputation is still tarnished by questions of authenticity
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This charged memoir by the daughter of celebrated parents centres on her relationship with her mother, one defined by love and anger
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A powerful memoir from an acclaimed novelist reveals a past of privilege, violence and possibly murder
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Unhappy at how economics is out of touch with reality and defined by an elite, Joe Earle, Cahal Moran and Zach Ward-Perkins sum up their explosive call for change
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A Hollywood-set caper nods to Ellroy and Chandler while firing jokes at everything from hipsters to reality TV
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When Nick Holdstock was asked to catalogue the books left behind in Doris Lessing’s home, he found annotations, drawings, dedications – and a few surprises
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Nicholas Lezard’s paperback of the week: There are shades of David Lynch, Margaret Atwood and Angela Carter in this collection of feminist allegories and surreal skits
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From the story of a homeless ex-addict to the life of an anonymous diarist: meet the writer intent on refreshing a genre
The Blot by Jonathan Lethem review – high-stakes backgammon and brain surgery