No, he didn’t. The author of this short book, a former Bolshevik, apparently met Stalin briefly before the 1917 revolution, and says that the man didn’t make much of an impression. The remaining 90% of…

This is how history books used to look: no index, no footnotes, no bibliography. Life for historians was easier in 1940. Eugene Lyons, a journalist, was the first Western newspaperman to interview Josef Stalin in…

Dr Michael Mosley, who sadly died last year, was one of the great communicators about science and medicine. His radio shows and podcasts taught millions of us about things we could do to improve our…

If you’re looking for a book about Grateful Dead fans, this is not it. But if you want to continue following the increasingly strange adventures of the female serial killer Rhiannon Lewis, this is book…

A pregnant woman, her boyfriend in prison accused of murder, and on the run from police and nosy journalists — well, that’s one way to describe this delightful book. The other way is — a…

I’m almost embarrassed to say how much I enjoyed this book. The best way to describe it is that it’s an updated version of American Psycho set in England of today, with a young female…

This very short novella is available on Amazon Kindle for free — apparently one doesn’t buy the book, but “borrow” it. What a great idea. It’s the first part of a trilogy of short fiction…

I once asked a young Finnish historian which side Finland was on during the Second World War. His answer consisted of two words: “It’s complicated.” It is indeed. This book tries to make sense of…

Many, many years ago I read dozens of Agatha Christie’s novels. Here’s what put a stop to that: I began marking the page where I felt for sure that I knew who the murderer was….

From what I can tell, I’ve read all of Malcolm Gladwell’s books. And before reading this one, which is a kind-of sequel to his best-seller from 25 years ago, I read a blistering review attacking…