Reviews

It may surprise some readers that the last Communard of this title is not Jimmy Somerville, the shrill voice of the 1980s, but Adrien Lejeune who as a young free-thinker reluctantly took the side of the Commune revolutionaries when the people of Paris rose up against the reactionary French governmen

  What Paintings Say is a wonderful study of 100 masterpieces, lavishly illustrated and packed with history presented in an accessible and readable way.

Tom Bower is a barrister turned investigative journalist, a species that is all but extinct in modern Britain. He has produced a string of debunking biographies of the rich and famous and has successfully defended libel actions from the likes of Richard Branson, Robert Maxwell and Richard Desmond. M

GIllian Mawdsley is impressed by Cal Flynn's first novel – inspired by the discovery that one of her ancestors was Angus McMillan, the leader of the notorious Highland Brigade that massacred aborigines in 19th century Australia while Connor Beaton delves into the darker side of the Internet to exp