Books

11 hauntingly beautiful pictures of dogs in cars from one of the most unusual and touching books of the year

A fascination with dogs and cars has prompted photographer Martin Usborne to produce a beautiful, unusual and gently haunting book.

Curious Questions: How the Monkey Puzzle tree get its name?

One of the most curious trees you'll see in Britain is also one of the most curiously-named: the Monkey Puzzle tree. But how did it get its name?

In Focus: The scandalous child of Empire, the murderous photographer and the woman who fatally brought them together

Eadweard Muybridge was not only the pioneering photographer of motion, but also a murderer. Jason Goodwin relishes this tale of the dashing rogue and adventurer who became his victim.

Cider with Rosie uncovered: A look into the idyllic scenes of Laurie Lee’s classic novel

Derek Turner takes a look at 'Down in the Valley', a slender, but well-conceived volume that revisits the scenes of Laurie Lee's classic of English rural writing.

Curious Questions: Would Anne Brontë be more famous without her two sisters?

To mark the forgotten Brontë’s 200th birthday, Charlotte Cory looks back at the life and works of this ‘runt of the literary litter’ and finds she was by no means meek and mild.

Inside Haworth: The humble parsonage where the Brontë sisters changed literature

Some of our most enduring stories were conceived at Haworth – Jeremy Musson enjoys a literary pilgrimage.

Seven astonishing books to read which will change your understanding of the history of the world

If you were left a tad disappointed by your Christmas presents, you can console yourself with two things. Firstly, by reminding yourself that it really is the thought that counts; and secondly, by putting things right with one of these astonishing and eye-opening tomes, picked out by Barnaby Rogerson.

Jason Goodwin: Naughty mandarins, the GIs who changed Chinese cooking and an app which almost beats reading

Our columnist picks not just his books of the year, but also his favourite app and YouTube video.

Quentin Blake: 'Even in the age of the iPad and the smart phone, books offer things that they cannot'

Sir Quentin Blake reveals the inspiration behind his new exhibition, ‘Anthology of Readers’, in which he affectionately caricatures the bookish among us.

Curious Questions: Have you been taking books off shelves the wrong way for your entire life?

The question of how to take a book off a shelf without damaging it may not be one you've ever given much thought to — but you owe it to your collection to do it the right way.

Nine books about cooking that make perfect Christmas gifts for foodies, from Nigel Slater's latest to a book that 'deserves a Michelin star'

Leslie Geddes-Brown devours the latest cookery books to hit shelves, from a study of Italian food to a tour of Britain via the medium of cheese.

The incredible tale of my father's escape from 'Italy's Colditz'

Today, we might think of spending a few months in a world heritage site in Southern Italy as an enormous privilege. During the Second World War, however, it was anything but.

The photographs (and photographers) who shaped the English country house style from the 1900s up to today

To coincide with the publication of his new book illustrated from the archives of Country Life, 'English House Style', John Goodall considers the long tradition of the magazine’s peerless interior photography.

A book that informs, inspires and surprises from a designer as engaging as a fantasy art-history teacher

Curious Questions: Who invented the gin and tonic?

Gin and tonic is arguably the greatest cocktail ever created — but who first mixed these two seemingly unlikely ingredients together? A new book seeks to tackle this curious question.

The vast and audacious architecture of London's greatest theatres

Roger Bowdler takes a look at 'London’s Great Theatres', a new book by Simon Callow with photography from Derry Moore.

Jason Goodwin: 'Coleridge never stopped talking... Wordsworth was more private, more reflective, and finally, more successful'

Jason Goodwin remarks on how tracking one's pet past the boundaries of one's home is comparable to Coleridge's 'This Lime-tree Bower My Prison'.

The book that combats disposable culture with tips and tricks for the perfect restoration

Mary Miers applauds an evocative portrait of a group of London Georgian houses cherished back to life.

A.N. Wilson's 'definitive biography' of Prince Albert, balanced, nuanced and challenging

Jason Goodwin: Forget what you were told at school — history is simply a cracking story that happens to be true

The education system did its best to put Jason Goodwin off history, but he came through unscathed — and thank goodness too, otherwise he might not have been able to recommend these summer reads.