EM Forster, Benjamin Britten and co-writer Eric Crozier working on ‘Billy Budd’ ©Getty ESSAY Feb 8, 2013

Variations on Britten

Andrew Clark on contrasting biographies that show the tension between the composer’s public and private lives

John Maynard Keynes (left) and Harry Dexter White in 1946 ©Getty NON-FICTION Feb 8, 2013

Indispensable nation

How America built a global economic order around itself at Bretton Woods. Tony Barber reviews ‘The Battle of Bretton Woods’, by Benn Steil; ‘The Leaderless Economy’, by Peter Temin and David Vines

©Tom Clohosy Cole FICTION Feb 8, 2013

Dave Eggers

An ageing American salesman reaches for relevance in an indifferent world. Sam Leith reviews ‘A Hologram for the King’

NON-FICTION Feb 8, 2013

Exit strategists

A history of British decolonisation describes the crucial role played by MI5. Richard Hopton reviews ‘Empire of Secrets’, by Calder Walton

The Golden Gate Bridge on the US’s ‘left coast’ ©Nicolò Minerbi/Luz Photo FICTION Feb 8, 2013

Man and machine

A search for artificial intelligence becomes a journey of self-discovery. George Pendle reviews ‘A Working Theory of Love’, by Scott Hutchins

The Monday Review

'The Myth of Martyrdom' cover

Adam Lankford has written a study of terrorists and mass killers that focuses on their suicidal urges

Small talk

Chloe Hooper ©Susan Gordon-Brown

Chloe Hooper: What music helps me write? I’m of the Jonathan Franzen sensory deprivation school

NON-FICTION Feb 8, 2013

The burden of memory

Personal insights into a region’s collective trauma. Stefan Wagstyl reviews ‘The Taste of Ashes’, by Marci Shore

FICTION Feb 8, 2013

Nurtured by nature

An alert debut sees life flourish amid urban grime. Lorien Kite reviews ‘Clay’, by Melissa Harrison

NON-FICTION Feb 8, 2013

Critical mass

Judgments that have literary merit of their own. Suzi Feay reviews ‘The Fun Stuff and Other Essays’, by James Wood

NON-FICTION Feb 8, 2013

In brief

Reviews of ‘Going Solo’, by Eric Klinenberg; ‘Mrs Moneypenny’s Careers Advice for Ambitious Women’, by Mrs Moneypenny

'Entrance to the Bolan Pass from Dadur' from ‘Sketches in Afghanistan’ ©National Army Museum ESSAY Feb 1, 2013

William Dalrymple’s ‘Return of a King’

A new history of the first Anglo-Afghan war from 1839 to 1842 describes the consequences of political ignorance and military folly in the region. Review by Anatol Lieven

Wordpower

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Kate Tempest Spoken word: the rise of performance poetry and its uneasy relationship with its written cousin

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Illustration by Luke Waller of Chris Hughes ©Luke Waller Chris Hughes co-founded Facebook and directed Barack Obama’s digital campaign for president

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