John Tolan Islam A new history from Muhammad to the present 304pp. Princeton University Press. £25 (US $29.95). James McDougall Worlds of Islam A global history 608pp. Allen Lane. £40. Elizabeth Drays

FROM A CONVERTED BANK WITH A SPA IN ITS VAULT TO A NILE CRUISE THAT ESCHEWS THE CROWDS, THIS IS TRAVEL, ELEGANTLY DONE

After spending two months bubling around southern Spain, you join the ride at Valor, in the Sierra Nevada mountains of Andalusia. We were contemplating our return route north to Santander and the ferr

The grisly fate of more than 16,000 soldiers and civilians during the First Anglo-Afghan War serves as a timeless lesson in hubris and bad leadership

Europe’s frozen northeast became a new sacred frontier of holy war, forced conversion and occupation against Europe’s last pagans

Last autumn we embarked on a campervan adventure through Portugal, a country largely unknown to us, despite spending several winters touring its neighbour, Spain. There is free movement between them n