Modernity Britain: A Shake of the Dice review – how the 60s revolution was a long time starting

David Kynaston’s engaging study shows early 1960s Britain to have been far more reactionary than radical, writes Lara Feigel

The Incredible Unlikeliness of Being review – a masterful account of why our bodies are the way they are

Alice Roberts combines embryology, genetics, anatomy, evolution and zoology to tell the incredible story of the human body, writes Adam Rutherford

How to Speak Money review – John Lanchester on the language of lucre

John Lanchester’s study of financial jargon tackles the Laffer Curve and Vix Index with Johnsonian attention and wit, writes Tim Adams

DVDs and downloads: The Two Faces of January, Only Lovers Left Alive, Frank and more

Viggo Mortensen and Kirsten Dunst are dressed to kill in a well-tailored Patricia Highsmith adaptation, writes Guy Lodge

Fatherland review – an absorbing account of a Serbian fanatic

Nina Bunjevac tackles exile and the horrors of nationalism in this vivid and timely memoir, writes Rachel Cooke

The Culinary Imagination review – a survey of food in western culture that doesn’t quite cut the mustard

Food's role in sin and sacrament are explored in Sandra Gilbert's all-you-can-think buffet, writes Julian Baggini

The Widowing of Mrs Holroyd review – a cracking DH Lawrence revival

Paul Miller gets off to a fine start as the Orange Tree’s new director with this intense version of Lawrence’s hard-hitting working-class tragedy, writes Michael Billington

The best books on Thailand: start your reading here

Pushpinder Khaneka: Our Thai tour starts with an epic royal saga and ends with a wide-ranging look at the forces that shaped the modern nation

Wild review – a two-hour hallucinatory montage

Reese Witherspoon shines in Jean-Marc Vallée's lean, energetic adaptation of Cheryl Strayed's bestselling memoir, writes Henry Barnes

The Tiger Who Came to Tea theatre review – roars when it should purr

This song-and-dance version of Judith Kerr’s picture book gets lots of laughs but loses some of the charm of her original story, writes Chris Wiegand

This Is Where I Leave You review: Fey and Bateman in tale of sibling ribaldry

Jason Bateman, Tina Fey and Adam Driver play the offspring of Jane Fonda, required to come home and remain there for a week after the death of their father. The performers excel, but the schmaltz can send a shiva down the spine

NMC: Casting Traces review – this is how good all new dance should be

New Movement Collective have raised the bar with their superb take on Paul Auster, writes Luke Jennings

The Children Act by Ian McEwan review – a masterly balance between research and imagination

Ian McEwan's 13th novel, about a beleaguered high court judge, is his best since On Chesil Beach, writes Kate Kellaway

Outline review – Rachel Cusk’s Greek chorus enthrals and appals

Rachel Cusk's daring new novel finds the narrator submerged by a cacophony of vivid voices off, writes Julie Myerson

Shark review – Will Self’s latest has sharp teeth and a warm heart

Will Self deals bitingly with miscellaneous modern horrors – but there's true feeling in this stream of consciousness, writes Sam Leith