Ideologues at war
Robert Peston's compelling analysis of the Blair-Brown rift, Brown's Britain, moves beyond personalities to the real issues, says Roy Hattersley.
Their lives in her hands
Hermione Lee examines how to get the balance right between an author's life and work in her collection of essays, Body Parts.
Never ask a Viking for advice
Jared Diamond's compelling study, Collapse, asks why throughout history, whole societies suddenly disappear - and what it means for us today.
Bad boy grows up
Sean Penn has been well served by Richard T Kelly's smart biography, says Kevin Macdonald.
The Creole with the teacup
The lady with the lamp's rival, Mary Seacole, is beginning to receive proper recognition. If only Jane Robinson had delved a little deeper, says Kathryn Hughes.
Opal Fruits and the parameters of addiction
James Brown's memoirs, The LA Diaries, could easily be self-pitying but develop into something useful and universal, says Nicholas Lezard.
Elegantly empty
Nils Ringdal avoids the grim reality of selling sex in his survey of prostitution, Love for Sale, says Natasha Walter.
Lessons from the master manipulator
Peter Preston isn't convinced by Michael White's rebranding of Niccolò Machiavelli - he was the first, and best, spinner of them of all.
Tricky Dickie, Duke and the King
Richard Nixon idolised John Wayne and invited Elvis to the Oval Office. Mark Feeney examines his life through the prism of cinema in Nixon at the Movies.
Rise and fall in the second division
Leigh Hunt, celebrated journalist and editor, deserves some attention. Andrew Motion on two biographies charting a life that changed from dream to nightmare.
Great expectations
Four new biographies suggest that the more we write about Alexander the Great, the less we understand him, says Rory Stewart.
Mob rule
Bryan Burrough's Public Enemies and Henry Hill and Gus Russo's Gangsters and Goodfellas shed new light on the FBI and the criminals they chase, says Clare Longrigg.
The original Superwoman
Jane Stevenson wishes there was a little more Latin rigour in Caroline Murphy's engaging portrait of the First Lady of Renaissance Rome, The Pope's Daughter.
Getting to grips with the hyena in petticoats
Lyndall Gordon's biography of Mary Wollstonecraft is as passionate and humane as its subject, says Kelly Grovier.
A life of party politics and partying
The conceited yet brilliant Benjamin Disraeli emerges in Christopher Hibbert's vivid life as one of our greatest-ever parliamentarians, says Jonathan Beckman.