Colibris

It is 1921 and post-revolutionary Russia is being torn apart by civil war. Out of the wreckage rises a crazy, eagle-eyed Baron, who plans to conquer the largest empire the world has ever known. When he fails to get his hands on Russia, the Bloody Baron sets his sights on Mongolia. There, ably assisted by his two demented bodyguards, ‘Teapot’ and Colonel ‘Dead Fish’ Sepailoff, he establishes a bizarre and brutal regime, which promises success - only to backfire spectacularly in his face.

Astonishing in its scale and ambition, this is the most balanced and accomplished book about the Iraq war so far. “The Assassins’ Gate” recounts how the United States set about changing the history of the Middle East and became ensnared in a guerrilla war in Iraq. It tells the story of the people and ideas that created the Bush administration’s war policy and led America to the Assassin’s Gate - the main point of entry into the American zone in Baghdad.

The consequences of that policy are shown in the author’s vivid reporting on the ground in Iraq, where he made several tours on assignment for “The New Yorker”. We see up close the struggles of individual American soldiers and civilians and Iraqis from all backgrounds, including returning exiles, thrown together by a war that followed none of the preconceived scripts. “The Assassins’ Gate” also describes the effect of the Iraq war on American life, including the ordeal of a fallen soldier’s family and the shortcomings of a political culture too impoverished in its knowledge of the world and too bitterly polarized to debate complex moral and strategic questions.

In 1931, Ninette de Valois started a ballet company with just six dancers. Within twenty years, the Royal Ballet - as it became - was established as one of the world’s great companies. It has produced celebrated dancers, from Margot Fonteyn to Darcey Bussell, and one of the richest repertoires in ballet.

This book is a perceptive and critical account of its first 75 years, tracing the company’s growth, and its great cultural importance.

The Sword and the Cross is a captivating tale of two French adventurers, one military and one spiritual, who helped to tame the desolate wilderness of the Sahara. Born in the mid 19th century into aristocratic families Charles de Foucauld and Henri Laperrine became soldiers and explorers. Foucauld was dramatically converted to Catholicism and left the French army to follow a way of self-denial so great that even the Trappist order seemed easy. He lived in the Sahara among the barbaric Touareg tribes as a hermit. However he never lost contact with Laperrine and the French imperialist dream, supporting his countryman with intelligence and contacts throughout his life. Laperrine admired and supported Foucauld. Fergus Fleming tells the story of their friendship and collaboration with verve, precision and a restrained passion.

This beautifully illustrated, full-colour history of costume has been produced by bestselling author John Peacock especially for children. With over 320 hand-drawn illustrations, and clearly written descriptions on every page, the book offers a broad survey of Western costume from ancient times through to the present day, and is sure to delight any child with an interest in fashion or history, as well as being an invaluable educational resource.

Here is a letter in which Gandhi predicts his assassination; a document signed by Elizabeth I on the first day of her reign, where she omits the ‘R’ for Regina (’Queen’); an intimate note from Trotsky to Frida Kahlo; a rare letter from Casanova alluding to his rakish past; a note from JFK’s accountant gently querying the future president’s expenses…

True to the Letter offers a fascinating glimpse into the private lives and minds of one hundred of the most significant figures in the worlds of literature, art, music and politics. This compulsively readable anthology of letters, sketches, signed photographs and working drafts, many published here for the first time, abounds in striking insights, anecdotes and intimate vignettes.

Most of the documents are illustrated by portraits or photographs of their writers, and each is accompanied by a supporting essay revealing the circumstances in which it was written. Full transcriptions and translations of the originals are supplied at the end of the book.

Who are we? Where did we come from? What makes us human? The whole puzzle of our early life on earth is gradually being pieced together from fragments of bone, skulls and primitive tools dispersed throughout the world. The trail leads back nearly five million years. Here is a history of human evolution that reveals the very latest finds and thinking - discoveries that can help us to understand our past, our present and even future.

Lovers of gold, wine and war, the Celts have no voice because they have left no written records. Much of what we know of them comes from their enemies the Romans, who finally crushed them, and from the weapons and ornaments they buried with their dead. From these traces we can now resurrect a sophisticated people who dominated Europe for 500 years.

These highly cultured “barbarians”, with their exquisite jewellery and metalwork, were eventually driven to the edges of the known world - yet were destined to shine out once more in the art of Celtic Christianity.

Powerful symbols of remote antiquity, the pyramids have intrigued and fascinated generations. In “The Complete Pyramids”, newly available in paperback, Mark Lehner surveys the history, building and use of these fascinating and mysterious monuments in unprecedented scope and detail, looking at both the practical aspects - the quarries, ramps and tools used in building them - as well as the conceptual - the cosmology and iconography of the pyramids and the intriguing Pyramid Texts.