Reza Aslan’s flawed account is better than nothing

We approach Dylan’s both peerless and wildly uneven catalogue only through the after-image of his dazzling prime

Shirley Hazzard stuck doggedly to exploring love — a theme unfashionable even then

Philip the foreigner and the press

Napoleon believed his glorious destiny was to terminate the Revolution

The Duke of Kent’s life has been little-known — until now

George Orwell’s gardening prowess comes as a surprise

Alex Rowson treats us to glimmering passages of life at Philip II’s court

Richard Vinen offers a rewarding portrait of ordinary lives and increasingly mediocre politicians

The great man’s peerless poetry is not the “soppy stuff” of cheap romanticism, but a harsh, unsparing — and often beautiful — look at the world