Natasha's Dance - A Cultural History of Russia

Orlando Figes

This tremendously attractive, ambitious, dizzying book is in every way a worthy successor to Figes' bestselling "A People's Tragedy". The whole panorama of Russia's mighty culture is conjured up in a way that is fresh, intimate and immediate. Whether talking about music or novels, buildings or paintings...

The Life of Samuel Johnson

James Boswell

The most celebrated English biography is a group portrait in which extraordinary man paints the picture of a dozen moreAt the centre of a brilliant circle which included Burke, Reynolds, Garrick, Fanny Burney and even George III, Boswell captures the powerful, troubled and witty figure of Samuel Johnson...