What makes British spies become double agents?
That question haunts Simon Kuper's biography of the traitor George Blake – which comes troublingly close to letting him off the hook
Book reviews
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Patricia Highsmith – the crime writer most likely to have been a murderer herself
Under a Dark Angel's Eye, a collection of short stories published ahead of her centenary, makes misery and evil seem delightfully moreish
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Why Remainers are the UK’s answer to the Capitol rioters
Andrew Roberts reviews This Sovereign Isle by Robert Tombs (Allen Lane, £16.99)
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Where the Crawdads Sing is the perfect pick for the Duchess of Cornwall’s book club
This decades-spanning saga of a girl in North Carolina hits the sweet spots of romance, crime and thriller – and will fuel great discussions
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Wikipedia has transformed knowledge – so why is it still looked down on?
It's the 20th anniversary of Wikipedia, the flawed but good faith resource that now defends us from 'fake news' Trumpist oblivion
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Nazi spies, a vampire and the devil's daughter – is Jenni Fagan's Luckenbooth the weirdest book of 2021?
This gothic tale of a creepy Edinburgh tenement building's denizens is seedy, sexy and strange
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The fascinating story of the CIA chief who learnt from Kim Philby’s betrayal
Michael Holzman's biography of Kim Philby and Jim Angleton sheds light on the Cold War – but relies too much on guesswork
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The Lost Homestead by Marina Wheeler, review: the barrister uncovers her Indian roots
Wheeler uses her cross-examination skills to draw a fascinating tale out of her mother in a book that's part travelogue, part biography
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The Living Sea of Waking Dreams by Richard Flanagan review: is technology ruining the world?
This magical new novel is about our loss of connection to nature – and to each other
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A Discovery of Witches: season two episode 1 review - as charming and bonkers as Blackadder
The supernatural series staged a winningly outlandish return after a two-year hiatus
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Karl Ove Knausgaard vs cancel culture: ‘They think their view of reality should be everyone’s’
The writer’s new essay collection In the Land of the Cyclops lays bare how Twitter’s moralistic philistines preach the opposite of freedom
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Deemed ‘defective’: the chilling story of the Ellis Island rejects
Małgorzata Szejnert’s excellent new book delves into the history of the gateway to America – and those who never made it through
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The Death of Francis Bacon by Max Porter, review: cruel, funny and grotesque
The author of Grief is the Thing with Feathers tackles his youthful obsession with Francis Bacon
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Invisible Ink by Patrick Modiano, review: less whodunit, more who-dun-what
Patrick Modiano is up to his old tricks in a detective story where the real villain is memory itself
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Is ageing a disease that could be cured?
Simon Ings finds Andrew Steele's new book Ageless as exhilarating as it is sensible
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Comrade Koba by Robert Littell, review: Stalin, through the eyes of a child
Jake Kerridge finds Robert Littell's novel poignant and funny – despite its solemn backdrop
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Olga by Bernhard Schlink review: a searching examination of Germany's scarred soul
A love story spanning a century, the new novel from the author of 'The Reader' looks at the troubled history of modern Germany
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Benedict XVI: A Life by Peter Seewald review: war stories that tell us why he left the Papacy
The first part of this two-volume biography of the Pope Emeritus sheds light on his youth as a lover, scholar and reluctant soldier
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Kings of Shanghai by Jonathan Kaufman review: meet the 'Rothschilds of Asia'
How two enterprising families brought art deco glitz to Shanghai, in the face of war and revolution
