The File by Timothy Garton Ash

This is a compelling 1997 excavation of the Stasi and the people who came into contact with it, writes Jo Littler

The Life of Monsieur de Molière by Mikhail Bulgakov

In its playfulness and hybridity, this book looks forward to contemporary 'faction' that fuses fiction and biography, says John Dugdale

Two short novels, dealing with the struggles of Jewish survival under Nazi rule, are brought together in this volume, writes Alexandra Masters

As the art of poetry takes precedence over biography, more thorough quoting from Heaney's verse would have been nice, says Martin Hemming

Jean Rhys has seduced her biographer, Elaine Showalter discovers

Ever-changing London sparkles through the prism of dance, says Maya Jaggi

A rare blend of personal narrative, social commentary, melancholy and hope, says Aimee Shalan

Lovell loves early pilots' mix of diligence and irresponsibility; dangerous fun was to be had, says Vera Rule

Full of drollery Guy Browning tells his life story through the stories of his favourite maps, writes Aimee Shalan

Evelyn Waugh's fans will find much to admire in this account of the troubled family who inspired Brideshead Revisited, says Selina Hastings

Once the province of science fiction, global disaster is now the hot subject for mainstream authors, says Robin McKie

Half-Holden Caulfield, half-Frank The Wasp Factory Cauldhame says Josh Sykes

Alex Clark delves into an exhaustive biography of the unsentimental, satirical Muriel Spark

Tom Parker Bowles's reheated food foray loses out to Norman Tebbit's grouse says Rachel Cooke

An exposé of life in Hugh Hefner's Playboy mansion lifts the lid on the sad, sordid life of a porn baron says Carole Cadwalladr