Globe ©Corbis ESSAY Mar 8, 2013

All together now

For David Cannadine, historians should look beyond the clash of religions, classes and civilisations to what unites us – but there are problems with an appeal to common humanity. Mark Mazower reviews ‘The Undivided Past’

An illustration of a boy in a desert ©Stuart Kolakovic FICTION Mar 8, 2013

JM Coetzee’s ‘The Childhood of Jesus’

Henry Twidle, winner of the Bodley Head/FT Essay Prize, reviews a novel that works on the imagination in unexpected ways

Mark Wallinger’s ‘Ecce Homo’ (1999) ©John Riddy NON-FICTION Mar 8, 2013

Beyond belief

When does faith turn bad? If only the author had tried to answer that question. John Cornwell reviews ‘The God Argument’, by AC Grayling

Comandante NON-FICTION Mar 8, 2013

Hero and villain

A portrait of Venezuela under the late Hugo Chávez reveals two sides to his presidency. Julia Sweig reviews ‘Comandante’, by Rory Carroll

Secrecy FICTION Mar 8, 2013

Wax lyrical

A 17th-century Florentine sculptor’s search for the perfect woman. AN Wilson reviews ‘Secrecy’, by Rupert Thomson

Eco-fuel Africa’s system for producing clean cooking fuel NON-FICTION Mar 8, 2013

The invisible influence

A design critic argues there is more to the subject than fashion and fonts. Edwin Heathcote reviews ‘Hello World’, by Alice Rawsthorn

Book cover of The Middlesteins by Jami Attenberg FICTION Mar 8, 2013

Discomfort eating

A family is divided by food. Emma Jacobs reviews ‘The Middlesteins’

Fanny & Stella book cover NON-FICTION Mar 8, 2013

In brief

Review of ‘Fanny & Stella’, by Niel McKenna

Night of Triumph FICTION Mar 8, 2013

In brief

Review of ‘Night of Triumph’, by Peter Bradshaw

Big data illustration by Oliver Polanski ©Oliver Polanski ESSAY Mar 1, 2013

Cloud atlas

For advocates of ‘big data’, the answers to many pressing problems lie in the very questions we ask online. But, asks James Harkin, will evidence from the servers of Google and its peers always send us in the right direction?