Fathers and sons
Jonathan Freedland's study of Jewishness, Jacob's Gift, is a family affair, says Rafael Behr.
Why two caves are better than one
Sebastian Mallaby combines a history of the World Bank with a biography of its flamboyant president. It will make uncomfortable reading for some, says Richard Adams.
The knowledge game
AJ Jacobs tells how he fought to stave off mediocrity by reading Encyclopedia Britannica in The Know-It-All. Ian Sansom is bemused.
More of a son than a lover
John Worthen's new study of DH Lawrence shows that the prophet of sexuality was actually just a big baby, says Jane Stevenson.
Call it what you like – this is hell
Mark Danner exposes the double speak that underpins Bush's 'war on terror' in Torture and Truth. Peter Conrad on how America's response to 9/11 unleashed an obscene nightmare.
Flawed rock star with true grit – but no grace
Jim Perrin tells how working-class climbers revolutionised the sport in his biography of Don Whillans, The Villain, says Peter Beaumont.
Lessons about the real world
John Kampfner on Peter Hyman's account of what happened when a Blairite swapped No 10 for the classroom, 1 Out Of 10
Good enough
Tom Shone is nearly seduced by The Whole Equation, a history of Hollywood from the film critic's film critic, David Thomson.
Ups and downs
Jim Perrin tells the story of rise and fall of Don Whillans in The Villain. M John Harrison on the 'midget climbing plumber'.
The life ecstatic
John McNeillie brings the past vividly to life in his country memoir, My Childhood, says Duncan Wu.
Lytton and co
Kathryn Hughes weighs up Barbara Caine's group life of some eminent Victorians, Bombay to Bloomsbury.
The bearers of memory
Jonathan Freedland leafs through the family album as he considers his son's inheritance. Anthony Julius on the tensions inherent in modern Anglo-Jewish identity.
Sexual crusader
James H Jones charts the transformation of Alfred C Kinsey from insect specialist to Dr Sex in an absorbing biography, says Robert McCrum.
Winnie wins
Paul Addison resists the charge of revisionist iconoclasts with his authoritative biograpy of the 'Greatest Briton', Winston Churchill, says Sunder Katwala.
The fright of our lives
Terrorism, nuclear bombs, paedophiles ... in Fear, Joanna Bourke argues we should assess risks, not quiver before them.