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

That question haunts Simon Kuper's biography of the traitor George Blake – which comes troublingly close to letting him off the hook
Under a Dark Angel's Eye, a collection of short stories published ahead of her centenary, makes misery and evil seem delightfully moreish
Andrew Roberts reviews This Sovereign Isle by Robert Tombs (Allen Lane, £16.99)
This decades-spanning saga of a girl in North Carolina hits the sweet spots of romance, crime and thriller – and will fuel great discussions
It's the 20th anniversary of Wikipedia, the flawed but good faith resource that now defends us from 'fake news' Trumpist oblivion
This gothic tale of a creepy Edinburgh tenement building's denizens is seedy, sexy and strange
Michael Holzman's biography of Kim Philby and Jim Angleton sheds light on the Cold War – but relies too much on guesswork
Wheeler uses her cross-examination skills to draw a fascinating tale out of her mother in a book that's part travelogue, part biography
This magical new novel is about our loss of connection to nature – and to each other
The supernatural series staged a winningly outlandish return after a two-year hiatus
The writer’s new essay collection In the Land of the Cyclops lays bare how Twitter’s moralistic philistines preach the opposite of freedom
Małgorzata Szejnert’s excellent new book delves into the history of the gateway to America – and those who never made it through
The author of Grief is the Thing with Feathers tackles his youthful obsession with Francis Bacon
Patrick Modiano is up to his old tricks in a detective story where the real villain is memory itself
Simon Ings finds Andrew Steele's new book Ageless as exhilarating as it is sensible
Jake Kerridge finds Robert Littell's novel poignant and funny – despite its solemn backdrop
A love story spanning a century, the new novel from the author of 'The Reader' looks at the troubled history of modern Germany
The first part of this two-volume biography of the Pope Emeritus sheds light on his youth as a lover, scholar and reluctant soldier
How two enterprising families brought art deco glitz to Shanghai, in the face of war and revolution