Murders for April
From the golden age of crime fiction to the modern day, Jeremy Black recommends seven books to see you through April
Books you might have missed
Jeremy Black recommends three history books that have been neglected by literary reviewers
The wrong war?
Jeremy Black says McMeekin’s account provides tough reading for anybody endorsing the Guardian’s view of history
Murders for late February
From countryside crimes to mysteries on the waves, Jeremy Black recommends further reading from the British Library Crime Classics collection
Why the narrative on Britain’s role in the slave trade is misleading
Britain’s bleak record with the slave trade makes a horrible story, but it is one not helped by getting it wrong
The Polish perspective
Why has the history of Poland, what was a large country, an important economy and an interesting polity, been marginalised by historians?
Murders for the end of the month
From laugh-out-louds to gripping plots, Jeremy Black recommends murder mysteries for the end of the month
Three first-rate books on maps
What about the past should and could be mapped, and how to do so, are vexed issues in cartographic studies
Louis XIV: a monarch of purpose
Despite its length, Philip Mansel’s biography of the Sun King is ‘a welcome prize for any reviewer’
Murders ranging widely
Jeremy Black recommends an array of crime fiction novels, both modern and classic, to keep you entertained in January