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Shamanism across many cultures
Ronald Hutton
Manvir Singh Shama
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
After a decade and a half of excavations, archæologists have uncovered the naturally mummified remains of well over 100 indigenous Yakuts of north-eastern Siberia, one of the coldest places on Earth.
From voyages to battles, gods to monsters, heroics to cowardice, the Viking sagas explore all of these themes in magnificent detail
Picture the scene: a former NHS chef ‘Clem’ Clements is celebrating his 98th birthday, sitting in his front room surrounded by his medications, an oxygen mask and a discreet tape recorder. He is recal
Melanie McDonagh Converts From Oscar Wilde to Muriel Spark, why so many became Catholic in the 20th century 368pp. Yale University Press. £25 (US $38). Nobody likes a convert. For believers, the word
MODERN ART OCFORD/SUZANNE TREISTER; SUZANNE TREISTER, COURTESY OF ...