Translated from the Italian, this biography marks the 700th anniversary of Dante's death. It brings to life the context in which he wrote. (Barbero's book on Waterloo was excellent.)
His mistakes as well as his achievements, and a fascinating post- Brexit look at our history since WW2, in which our leaders still vye for Churchill's mythic mantle to legitimize their polit... read more
A biography of the Swiss tennis divinity, champion of sweetie-coloured blazers, master of self-possession, likened by fellow tennis players to Michelangelo for his skill.
A sequence of lively anecdotes from a mercurial mind: Gekoski has led several careers, as a publisher and more recently as a fine novelist; he is also the doyen of dealers in rare modern fir... read more
Re-issue of her classic 1976 memoir. Arriving in Britain in 1952 to study child development at the University of London, Gilroy was at first denied teaching positions but eventually became t... read more
A biography of Mildred Harnack (by her great-great-niece), the American woman who worked with political activists in Berlin1930s and then, when WW2 broke out, with the German resitance. She ... read more
Hart began a new life in a white-washed cottage in Wigtown - her Innisfree - while recovering from cancer. There she finds that swimming in a cold sea, nattering with lobster pot men, beekee... read more
After twenty years as an FT columnist and surrounded with all the usual trappings of success, Kellaway found herself uneasy. She then set about undoing the framework of her life and has retr... read more
Just 28 when he found Nineveh, Layard later witnessed the Charge of the Light Brigade and reported on the Indian Mutiny: his life was action-packed. This new biog argues that he was deeply r... read more
New edition of these wonderful, open-eyed letters by the wife of the British ambassador to the Sublime Porte; fascinating glimpses of the world of Ottoman women, not least their practice of ... read more
A rollicking account of the pursuit of love among the Good, the Bad and the Beautiful; abridged from 3 large volumes of memoirs that he left on his death in 2011.
An exploration of the friendship and rivalry of these two poets, who met weekly at the Ritz (for a while) to discuss sex, suicide, mental health and other mutual preoccupations.
The magnificent Eland publisher considers his ilk through the stories and gossip of 15 generations of farmers, colonels, brewers, naval commanders and horse-lovers, as told to him by a great... read more
Raised in Nazi Germany, at 18, Wulff Scherchen was Britten's muse and lover. When the composer went to the USA during the war, Wulff was interned as an enemy alien and transported to Canada,... read more
Beautifully attuned to her subject, CA unravels Sebald's work from his life with subtlety and sympathy. She has previously written a marvellous biography of Primo Levi.
This remarkable volume was published by the Memorial Human Rights Centre, a Russian civil rights group . It tells the stories of 16 men - mostly members of the intelligentsia, and loyal Sovi... read more
A work of self-investigation by a remarkable and versatile writer, which explores why an artist would respond to the world without being invited to do so. Essays about voice, finding it and ... read more