The celebrated photojournalist picks six favourites. He will talk to Richard Ovenden about his life and work, and will be awarded this year's Bodley Medal, at the Oxford Literary Festival on 3 April.
Pleasure of Ruins
I dug this out of a charity shop 25 years ago and it inspired me on my own journeying around the Mediterranean basin, resulting in three books on the ruins of the Roman empire. Macaulay's prose is stirring, and triggered my own fascination with stone.
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If This Is a Man
Primo Levi, 1947
I return to this book when my violent nightmares become extreme, for it is a lesson in being human, even in unimaginable depths of horror. Written in a spare style, the memoir is about the author's arrest and subsequent incarceration at Auschwitz.
Robinson Crusoe
Daniel Defoe, 1719
This was a favourite childhood book, and when I read it as an adult I also appreciate Defoe's journalistic and political bent of mind – a man not prepared to take anything at face value.
The Wilder Shores of Love
Lesley Blanch, 1954
I've always enjoyed travel writing, especially when it conveys worlds and times that no longer exist. This is a collection of mini-biographies about the separate adventures of four very different women who made the Middle East their home.
Broken Archangel
Roland Philipps, 2024
I've been long drawn to the maverick Roger Casement, a brilliant Irishman, rebel and diplomat who was arrested for high treason and executed. He was many things, but also a humanitarian exposing atrocities in Congo. Philipps's biography brings all his complexities into view.
King Leopold's Ghost
Adam Hochschild, 1998
If you want to understand the turmoil and unrest of Africa today, it's worth reading this haunting account, exploring one colonising nation's mission to exploit the state of Congo in the late 1800s. The atrocities that were committed can't quite be believed.
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5 dramatically dysfunctional cartoons about the government shutdownCartoons Artists take on life without government, foam finger pointing, and more
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October 4 editorial cartoonsCartoons Saturday's political cartoons include the Einstein files, defunding the police, and an odd tribute to Jane Goodall
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Mustardy beans and hazelnuts recipeThe Week Recommends Nod to French classic offers zingy, fresh taste
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Mustardy beans and hazelnuts recipe
The Week Recommends Nod to French classic offers zingy, fresh taste
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Susie Dent picks her favourite booksThe Week Recommends The lexicographer and etymologist shares works by Jane Goodall, Noel Streatfeild and Madeleine Pelling
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House of Guinness: ‘rip-roaring’ Dublin brewing dynasty period dramaThe Week Recommends The Irish series mixes the family tangles of ‘Downton’ and ‘Succession’ for a ‘dark’ and ‘quaffable’ watch
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Dead of Winter: a ‘kick-ass’ hostage thrillerThe Week Recommends Emma Thompson plays against type in suspenseful Minnesota-set hair-raiser ‘ringing with gunshots’
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A Booker shortlist for grown-ups?Talking Point Dominated by middle-aged authors, this year’s list is a return to ‘good old-fashioned literary fiction’
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Fractured France: an ‘informative and funny’ enquiryThe Week Recommends Andrew Hussey's work is a blend of ‘memoir, travelogue and personal confession’
