First Raise a Flag by Peter Martell – review
This chilling account of the war in South Sudan gives a voice to those trapped by the brutality
Dramatic Exchanges, selected and edited by Daniel Rosenthal – review
These insightful letters between theatrical giants reveal the colourful offstage dramas at Britain’s National Theatre
Letters Home 1936-1977 by Philip Larkin, edited by James Booth – review
The poet’s sweetly sad dispatches, mostly addressed to his mother, reek of social history, while revealing a witty, wise and grossly impractical man
The Apprentice review: Trump, Putin and the subversion of US democracy
Greg Miller of the Washington Post proves one urgent thing: the Democrats must take the House on Tuesday
Book clinic: what books can help me deal with depression and anxiety?
From Winnie-the-Pooh to a comforting tale by Marilynne Robinson, all kinds of literature can come to the rescue
The Ravenmaster by Christopher Skaife review – my life at the Tower of London
Blood-soaked biscuits and disembowelled pigeons in a wonderfully personal account of life with the ravens
In Extremis by Lindsey Hilsum review – the life of war correspondent Marie Colvin
A friend and fellow war reporter details Colvin’s hard-drinking, hard-living decades and her inspiring career covering one humanitarian disaster after another
The Corrosion of Conservatism review: a Republican pleads for a reboot
A disillusioned author gets plenty right about the cost of Trump but fails to see how the GOP helped him rise to the top
Things We Lost in the Fire by Mariana Enríquez review – gruesome short stories
These grotesque visions of bodily trauma from Argentina reflect a country still coming to terms with decades of violent dictatorship
Midlife by Kieran Setiya review – a philosophical guide to the crisis
An introspective account explores anxieties about mortality and loss of youth and draws on John Stuart Mill and Buddhism
The best recent thrillers – review roundup
Mick Herron’s The Drop, The Kingfisher Secret by Anonymous, Aftershock by Adam Hamdy, The Insider by Mari Hannah, Lisa Gabriele’s The Winters and Homegrown Hero by Khurrum Rahman
The Library of Ice by Nancy Campbell review – an Arctic obsession
After travelling to Greenland and Iceland, the writer and poet offers reflections on ice and snow that draw on art, science and history
Crimson by Niviaq Korneliussen review – rage and queer romance under an icy sun
Events happen at unnerving speed in this tale of four young LGBT people living in Greenland’s tiny capital
Oscar: A Life by Matthew Sturgis review – Wilde’s status is higher than ever
This is a fuller and in some ways more reliable biography than Richard Ellman’s. The final stages of the story remain as gripping as they are grim
An American Story by Christopher Priest review – quiet, gripping 9/11 masterpiece
A science journalists sifts the evidence on the 2001 New York attacks in this powerful novel about fake news, the internet and social media