The samurai’s history and legacy, Angela Merkel’s 21st-century military and a new aviation festival

Marcus Paul, editor John Buchan Reconsidered Thirty-nine years of war and peace 1901–1940 328pp. Handsel Press. £27. John Buchan The Strange Stories of John Buchan Edited by James Machin 256pp. Britis

From voyages to battles, gods to monsters, heroics to cowardice, the Viking sagas explore all of these themes in magnificent detail

Sibyls , the book born of Ruth Fainlight’s poems and Leonard Baskin’s prints, became a memento of friendship, beauty and sorrow for its author

Michael D. C. Drout The Tower and the Ruin J. R. R. Tolkien’s creation 384pp. Norton. £25. Giuseppe Pezzini Tolkien and the Mystery of Literary Creation 456pp. Cambridge University Press. £30. Michael

In the 1500s, Japan was fought over by hundreds of rival warlords. They battled for territory and power, resulting in a century of near-constant war, until the Tokugawa shoguns won a decisive victory