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

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

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

A collection of letters reveals a special relationship between American citizens and their president

A trio of books displaying an abhorrence for Trump’s foreign policy still leave readers hoping for an explanation of the president’s world view

Two new books do an admirable job of judging the communist superpower on its own terms

A profound sense of loss flows through Jason Cowley’s essays on the state of the nation

Two books by Woodward and Omarosa Manigault Newman reveal a president epically unsuited to the job

A harrowing and timely account of the rescue of Yazidi women from Isis terror

The author has a fine record on the frontlines of the media revolution — but he was less successful at balancing the books

A universal basic income is a big idea but has its time really come?

Jonathan Fenby’s ‘Crucible’ argues that our world was shaped in a remarkably short period in the wake of the chaos left by war

An expert and timely account looks at the threats posed by pro-independence sentiment

Philosopher Martha C Nussbaum’s The Monarchy of Fear is a book for dark times

Wracked by economic and political crisis, the country may be at its lowest ebb in decades

Mugabe’s violent drive for absolute power and the earlier failure to forge a liberal middle way still haunt the country today

A timely account of how Beijing is expanding its influence makes for sober reading

Shashi Tharoor’s latest book explores India’s belief systems and the dangers that lie ahead

Julian Jackson’s masterful life of Charles de Gaulle holds timely warnings about the concentration of authority in the Élysée

The compelling story of the president’s bid to revive France and Europe

A welcome dose of scepticism on the techniques used by firms such as Cambridge Analytica

A hard-headed realpolitik now governs the battle for influence between China, the US and India