Mapping the second world war - Peter Chasseaud

Follow the conflict of the Second World War from 1939 to 1945 in this unique volume, published in association with Imperial War Museums, London, featuring historical maps and photographs from their archives, and fascinating commentary from an expert historian.

Over 150 maps tell the story of how this global war was fought.

Reel History: The World According to the Movies - Alex Von Tunzelmann

From ancient Egypt to the Tudors to the Nazis, the film industry has often defined how we think of the past. But how much of what you see on the screen is true? And does it really matter if filmmakers just make it all up? 

Picking her way through Hollywood's version of events, acclaimed historian Alex von Tunzelmann sorts the fact from the fiction. Along the way, we meet all our favourite historical characters, on screen and in real life: from Cleopatra to Elizabeth I, from Spartacus to Abraham Lincoln, and from Attila the Hun to Nelson Mandela.

Based on the long-running column in the Guardian, Reel History takes a comic look at the history of the world as told through the movies - the good, the bad, and the very, very ugly.

The Good Thief's Guide to Vegas - Chris Ewan

Charlie Howard - mystery writer and incorrigible thief - is in for a tough vacation in Las Vegas. Losing heavily at poker is one thing, but to find his literary agent, Victoria, being charmed by the Fifty-Fifty casino resort's star magician, Josh Masters, is another irritation entirely. 

Still, Charlie's not one to hold a grudge, least of all when he could be holding Masters' wallet. With access to the magician's deluxe suite now tantalizingly at hand, a spot of burglary seems to be in order and Charlie's only too happy to oblige. Problem is, everything's bigger in Sin City - including the fall-out from petty crimes - and it isn't long before Charlie and Victoria find themselves threatened with a one-way trip into the Nevada desert unless they can conjure up a small fortune in twenty-four hours. 

For Charlie, there's only one viable course of action: break into as many hotel rooms as he can, steal as much as possible, and just hope that Victoria can summon Lady Luck to the gaming table of her choice. 

Mind you, it would all be a lot easier if Charlie hadn't stumbled upon a dead woman, and if Josh Masters hadn't vanished in the middle of his act…

The Good Solider - Ford Maddox Ford

The Good Soldier is a masterpiece of twentieth-century fiction, an inspiration for many later, distinguished writers, including Graham Greene. Set before the First World War, it tells the tale of two wealthy and sophisticated couples, one English, one American, as they travel, socialise, and take the waters in the spa towns of Europe.

They are 'playing the game', in style. That game has begun to unravel, however, and with compelling attention to the comic, as well as the tragic, results the American narrator reveals his growing awareness of the sexual intrigues and emotional betrayals that lie behind its façade.