Sex (Time) Machine
A new history of sex reveals tales of Clarice Clatterbollocks, testicle thefts, and women keeping live fish in their knickers
Claire Tomalin
Recommends four books spanning three centuries
Olivia Chantecaille
Start them young: on the best children’s books for budding activists
This Town
A new book of photographs chronicles the evolution of New York City’s downtown over a century, from Radio Row to a post-9/11 World Trade Center
Bad Romance
The author of a new book on the Borgias’ infamous personal lives uncovers the facts behind the Italian family’s long-standing myths
Face Value
A new book considers the fate of our most human aspects—the mystery of the brain, the expressiveness of the face—in our tech-bent future
Max Hastings
On the best work of Sir Michael Howard, the British historian who dealt high intellect and common sense in equal measure
The North Korean Job
The author of the first English-language book on Kim Jong Un explains the dotard-trolling dictator’s mysterious rise
Leslie Jamison
On the books worth obsessing over
Vive Maigret!
The complete adventures of Georges Simenon’s beloved inspector are now available in one stylish set
Dead Prime Ministers Society
A rare look inside Eton, Britain’s most respected (and reviled) boarding school
