Echoes of paternal bad luck enrich this engrossing tour of Ireland’s literary heritage

A sharp analysis of antitrust law is a welcome guide to power today

The 1919 Paris Peace Conference promised to remake the world. But today, its vision of nationhood looks increasingly under threat

Charting the battle lines between legacy and activism

A plea for social infrastructure dismisses Big Tech claims to be building ‘community’

John Lloyd considers two valuable books showing that people who are swayed by populist parties aren’t necessarily bigoted and that their fears are real

A great poet’s correspondence with his family is trivial, prosaic — and strangely gripping

The Mooch makes a pitch to re-enter the White House circle of trust

A study suggests sex robots may help us to cure loneliness as well as eradicate sex work, but there will never be an age of artificial intimacy

Michael Lewis breaks new ground with a timely love letter to bureaucracy

The memoir of a Mexican writer is also a timely meditation on the geopolitics of migration

Last testament of ex-Fed chair appeals for restored trust in government, writes Martin Wolf

We still have a lot to learn about decision-making, and while organisations could learn a lot from military strategy — individuals may struggle to follow

A finely wrought, heartfelt consideration of artists’ attempts — from Giotto to Picasso — to represent the after life

Can’t get a good night’s sleep? Why this might make an ideal book at bedtime

Anti-elitism threatens liberal democracy and capitalism. Martin Wolf asks: Is reform the answer?

A clear and concise portrait of the US shale revolution

An erudite memoir reveals the secrets behind the discovery of Old Master paintings

A delightful memoir by the fashion photographer about his troublesome, flamboyant boyhood — and a later passion for hats

Identifying the source of an incendiary 1924 letter from Russia makes an absorbing tale

The cabin of an airliner is the setting for a surprising study of the liquids that surround us

An exhilarating history of US capitalism from the former Fed chief and Adrian Wooldridge

An uneven account of England’s complex education system

Her travelling days may be over, but the grand dame of travel writing still offers novel perspectives on the world

A new biography, I Am Dynamite!, beautifully captures the life’s work of the philosopher