Putin’s People by Catherine Belton review – a groundbreaking study that follows the money

A fearless, fascinating account of the emergence of the Putin regime also shines a light on the current threats posed by Russian money and influence

Picture books for children – reviews

A dazzling plant compendium, Axel Scheffler’s crucial guide to coronavirus and a bear in Bermuda shorts lift the spirits in lockdown

Rainbow Milk by Paul Mendez review – beautiful and distinctive

This original, sharp debut novel explores what it means to be a young ambitious black man in Britain

Becoming review – tantalising tour of Michelle Obama’s life

This carefully authorised documentary offers glimpses of a dazzling presence on America’s political stage

The Midnight Gang review – escape to Walliams’ wonderland

There’s gleeful mischief and plenty of toilet humour in Chichester Festival theatre’s 2018 show based on the David Walliams bestseller

The Well Gardened Mind by Sue Stuart-Smith; The Natural Health Service by Isabel Hardman – review

A fascinating pair of books on the therapeutic potential of the natural world

Cleanness by Garth Greenwell review – interlinked stories of pain and desire

The follow-up to Garth Greenwell’s much-acclaimed debut novel encompasses the tender and the tawdry in exhilarating prose

In brief: Enter the Aardvark; The Dutch House; Resistance – review

A comic romp from Jessica Anthony, a pitch-perfect tale of Pennsylvania life from Ann Patchett; and insights into Tori Amos’s creative process

Pandemic! by Slavoj Žižek; Where Is God in a Coronavirus World? by John Lennox – review

A philosopher and a Christian evangelist try to make sense of the current crisis

Arguing with Zombies review: Paul Krugman trumps the Republicans

The Nobel-winning economist and New York Times columnist is at the top of his game in eviscerating those who have dragged America down

Children’s books roundup – the best new picture books and novels

A badminton-playing panda, a celebration of the avocado, a travel agency with gateways to other worlds and more

Natural by Alan Levinovitz review – the seductive myth of nature’s goodness

From ‘clean eating’ to the countryside to Goop, ‘natural’ is assumed to be good and is almost a new religion, argues this book. But is the author focusing on the right question?

The Glass Hotel by Emily St John Mandel review – haunted visions of a global crisis

Financial meltdown looms in this elegant portrait of complacency, from the author of Station Eleven

Active Measures review: how Trump gave Russia its richest target yet

In divided, chaotic and fearful times, Thomas Rid’s ‘secret history of disinformation and political warfare’ is a must-read

Double Lives by Helen McCarthy – a history of working mothers

Three quarters of British mothers are now in paid employment – a huge change over the past century – but, as this impressive study suggests, women still do more at home