Middleland: Dispatches from the Borders Rory Stewart (Jonathan ...

Goethe: A Life in Ideas Matthew Bell (Princeton ...

Reins in hands, three young sisters ride the coils of an enormous blue snake. Waving a rattle and smiling happily, the fourth, a baby, is held around her plump middle by its tail. Passers-by dive out

Over a long career, John Hardman has specialised to great effect in teasing out, from speeches, decrees, minutes, memoranda, letters, diaries and unsent drafts, the varied moods of French political de

Our pick of the latest military history books

Having met many presidents and prime ministers, our columnist argues that great leaders need vision, drive and the power to inspire