Paul Mason’s latest book, How To Stop Fascism: History, Ideology, Resistance (The Week Bookshop £15.99), is published this week.
Vineland by Thomas Pynchon (1990)
A haunting and surreal story of betrayal, both in love and politics, set amid the ruins of the 1960s counterculture, the war on drugs and the rise of the US surveillance state. Vintage £10.99; The Week Bookshop £8.99
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Life and Fate by Vasily Grossman (1980)
Grossman was a journalist who saw both the Second World War and the Holocaust from the frontline. This masterpiece of 20th century literature was banned for explicitly comparing Nazi and Soviet dictatorships, and had to be smuggled out of the USSR on microfilm. Its author died believing that every copy of his book had been lost. Vintage £10.99; The Week Bookshop £8.99
The Red Virgin: Memoirs of Louise Michel (1886)
A schoolteacher turned barricade fighter in the Paris Commune, Michel was exiled to the Pacific island of New Caledonia, where she began to document the folklore of the indigenous peoples, and to support their revolt against French colonialism. My 2017 play, Divine Chaos of Starry Things, was a tribute to her indomitable spirit. University of Alabama Press £32.50
How Green Was My Valley by Richard Llewellyn (1939)
Of all the coal-mining novels, this is the one that captures best the intense solidarity of communities like the one my grandparents lived in, and how much they loved life despite its hardships. Today the Welsh valleys are, once again, green – but at massive social cost. Penguin £10.99; The Week Bookshop £8.99
Istanbul, Istanbul by Burhan Sönmez (2016)
I covered the Gezi Park uprising in Istanbul in 2013. Sönmez’s novel tells the city’s story through the eyes of four victims of torture, who tell each other fables as they share a prison cell. In a world where torture is becoming the routine tool of political strongmen, Sönmez shows how ordinary people find the courage to resist. Telegram Books £8.99; The Week Bookshop £6.99
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Political cartoons for February 14Cartoons Saturday's political cartoons include a Valentine's grift, Hillary on the hook, and more
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Tourangelle-style pork with prunes recipeThe Week Recommends This traditional, rustic dish is a French classic
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The Epstein files: glimpses of a deeply disturbing worldIn the Spotlight Trove of released documents paint a picture of depravity and privilege in which men hold the cards, and women are powerless or peripheral
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Tourangelle-style pork with prunes recipe
The Week Recommends This traditional, rustic dish is a French classic
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Samurai: a ‘blockbuster’ display of Japan’s legendary warriorsThe Week Recommends British Museum show offers a ‘scintillating journey’ through ‘a world of gore, power and artistic beauty’
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BMW iX3: a ‘revolution’ for the German car brandThe Week Recommends The electric SUV promises a ‘great balance between ride comfort and driving fun’
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Arcadia: Tom Stoppard’s ‘masterpiece’ makes a ‘triumphant’ returnThe Week Recommends Carrie Cracknell’s revival at the Old Vic ‘grips like a thriller’
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My Father’s Shadow: a ‘magically nimble’ love letter to LagosThe Week Recommends Akinola Davies Jr’s touching and ‘tender’ tale of two brothers in 1990s Nigeria
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Send Help: Sam Raimi’s ‘compelling’ plane-crash survival thrillerThe Week Recommends Rachel McAdams stars as an office worker who gets stranded on a desert island with her boss
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Book reviews: ‘Hated by All the Right People: Tucker Carlson and the Unraveling of the Conservative Mind’ and ‘Football’Feature A right-wing pundit’s transformations and a closer look at one of America’s favorite sports
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Catherine O'Hara: The madcap actress who sparkled on ‘SCTV’ and ‘Schitt’s Creek’Feature O'Hara cracked up audiences for more than 50 years
