Leaders join hands at the 2012 ASEAN summit in Cambodia ©Camera Press Philip Stephens from ESSAY Feb 15, 2013

Shifting global power

The FT chief political commentator’s review of ‘The Great Convergence’, ‘The End of Power’ and ‘Intelligent Governance for the 21st Century’

Adolf Hitler viewing the bust of Friedrich Nietzsche in 1931 ©Fotoarchiv Hoffman NON-FICTION Feb 15, 2013

Twisted logic

The thinkers admired, corrupted and oppressed by the Nazis. John Cornwell reviews ‘Hitler’s Philosophers’, by Yvonne Sherratt

©Adam Hancher FICTION Feb 15, 2013

‘Harvest’ by Jim Crace

Crace’s new novel depicts a rural community looking into the abyss. Review by AN Wilson

NON-FICTION Feb 15, 2013

Geeks bearing gifts

An entertaining but selective account of scientists’ contributions to finance. Clive Cookson reviews ‘The Physics of Finance’, by James Owen Weatherall

FICTION Feb 15, 2013

Fairytale of New York

This breakneck fable of love and loss has an energy that captivates. Alice Fishburn reviews ‘Mimi’, by Lucy Ellmann

NON-FICTION Feb 15, 2013

World of difference

A study of raising children who stand out from the mainstream. Laurence Scott reviews ‘Far From the Tree’, by Andrew Solomon

FICTION Feb 15, 2013

Under the volcano

A tale of doomed colonial life. Isabel Berwick reviews ‘Gone to the Forest’, by Katie Kitamura

NON-FICTION Feb 15, 2013

In brief

Reviews of ‘London Bridge in America’, by Travis Elborough; ‘How Eskimos Keep Their Babies Warm’, by Mei-Ling Hopgood

FICTION Feb 15, 2013

In brief

Reviews of ‘Bedlam’ by Christopher Brookmyre; ‘The Best of All Possible Worlds’, by Karen Lord

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