Satyricon by Petronius
Blasphemous, rude and obscene, Petronius's tales of Roman decadence are among the more entertaining legacies of antiquity, says Agnieszka Gratza
The Gospel of Filth: A Bible of Decadence and Darkness by Gavin Baddeley
Luke Jennings probes the darkness of satanist metal band Cradle of Filth
A Village Life by Louise Glück
Charles Bainbridge admires vignettes of Mediterranean life
My Bonnie: How Dementia Stole the Love of my Life by John Suchet, and Keeper: Living with Nancy. A Journey Into Alzheimer’s by Andrea Gillies
Two very different accounts of dementia struggle to make sense of a bewildering and frightening disease, says Kate Kellaway
Rude Britannia: British Comic Art
Tate Britain's exhibition devoted to the history of irreverent, bawdy art offers up precious few laughs, writes Laura Cumming
Outside Inside by Bruce Davidson
A retrospective by Magnum photographer Bruce Davidson is an epic chronicle of postwar America says Sean O'Hagan
The Man on Devil’s Island by Ruth Harris
A brave new insight into the Dreyfus affair finds France in the 1890s riven by more than anti-Semitism, writes Ruth Scurr
The Most Powerful Idea in the World: A Story of Steam, Industry and Invention by William Rosen
Robin McKie enjoys a revealing account of steam wizard James Watt – the man who kickstarted the industrial revolution
Playing Days by Benjamin Markovits
Benjamin Markovits moves closer to the major league with this novel starring himself as a basketball player, writes James Purdon
Listening to Van Morrison by Greil Marcus
Marcus Greil's inquiry into the genius of Van Morrison occasionally gets lost in the poetry, writes Kevin Mitchell
Troubles by JG Farrell
A superb narration of a fine post-First World War novel, says Rachel Redford
The Dead Yard by Ian Thomson
You can smell the sweat, sex and ganja in this 'story of modern Jamaica', says Wally Dalloway
The Rational Optimist: How Prosperity Evolves by Matt Ridley
In his argument against the world's economic doom-mongers Matt Ridley has some persuasive history on his side, says David Papineau
Dreamers of a New Day: Women Who Invented the Twentieth Century by Sheila Rowbotham
Sheila Rowbotham's account of feminism commemorates unsung Victorian women of courage and vision, writes Dinah Birch
David Deutsch’s multiverse carries us beyond the realms of imagination
There were moments in The Fabric of Reality by David Deutsch when Tim Radford felt perilously out of his depth. But the adventure was exhilarating