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

The last time most Libyans saw Saif al-Islam Gaddafi alive was in 2021. Muammar Gaddafi’s son, who for some time had been considered his heir apparent, had not been seen for years before, to the exten

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

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

There’s no shortage of great picks at this year’s TEFAF Maastricht, the Netherlands, including a Barbara Hepworth sculpture, a pastel portrait by Dora Maar and two sections of 4th-century Roman mosaics

John Piper was a modernist who rejected Modernism, a versatile artist who defied categories, but one who remained true to the spirit and detail of the places he painted