The journalist, newsreader and presenter of BBC Radio 4's "Today" chooses her six favourite books.
Her new memoir, "Broken Threads: My Family From Empire to Independence", is out now.
Little Women
Louisa May Alcott, 1868-1886
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Not so much the best-known first one, but the follow-ups, in which Jo sets up a school with her husband, and Alcott charts the lives of the boys who come there. I loved the entire quintet through my teenage years.
The Wandering Falcon
Jamil Ahmad, 2011
This can be seen as a novella or a series of linked short stories, but either way it's a poignant portrait of life in the border region between Pakistan and Afghanistan. There are age-old customs, social mores and privations, as well as conflict with nation-state ideology. The "falcon" of the title is actually a little boy, struggling to survive.
The Past Is Myself
Christabel Bielenberg, 1968
I read this autobiography of a British woman's life in Nazi Germany after seeing "Christabel", the BBC series it inspired, in the 1980s. Written with simplicity, directness and humanity, it laid the ground for my own interest in history as reflected in family stories.
The Ordinary Princess
M.M. Kaye, 1980
A children's story about a princess whose fairy godmothers turn up at her christening, bestowing gifts such as wit. The final one, Crustacea, arrives in a bad mood and gives the baby ordinariness instead.
King Leopold's Ghost
Adam Hochschild, 1998
A horrifying, brilliantly told account of colonialism as a personal enterprise, describing the Belgian king's "acquisition" and brutal plunder of Congo.
Selected Poems
Louis MacNeice, 1944
This volume by the under-appreciated, Belfast-born MacNeice contains the lyrical "Autumn Journal", written in – and about – the autumn of 1938. It powerfully conjures up ordinary life in England amid the hovering threat of war.
-
Denmark's 'pornographic' mermaid statue is in hot waterUnder the Radar Town will reportedly remove voluptuous Big Mermaid, despite statue being 'arguably a bit less naked' than Copenhagen monument the Little Mermaid
-
August 10 editorial cartoonsCartoons Sunday's political cartoons include a global plastics problem, GOP enthusiasm over tariffs, and more
-
5 thin-skinned cartoons about shooting the messengerCartoons Artists take on unfavorable weather, a look in the mirror, and more
-
A tour of southern GreenlandThe Week Recommends New international airport has given this 'bucolic' island a welcome boost
-
Bonnie Blue: taking clickbait to extremesTalking Point Channel 4 claims documentary on the adult performer's attention-grabbing sex stunts is opening up a debate
-
Broccoli and lentil salad with curried tahini and dates recipeThe Week Recommends Flavoursome and healthy, this creamy salad is perfect as part of a mezze
-
The return of 'Wednesday,' an 'Alien' prequel and a dramatic retelling of the Amanda Knox trial all happening in August TVthe week recommends This month's new television releases include 'Alien: Earth,' 'The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox' and a new season of 'Wednesday'
-
Savages: a tragi-comedy set in a 'quirky handcrafted world'The Week Recommends This new animated film by Oscar-nominated filmmaker Claude Barras is undeniably political, but it has a hopeful message
-
Merryn Somerset Webb chooses five books on how the world worksThe Week Recommends The financial columnist picks works by Peter Turchin, Adam Smith and Christopher Clark
-
6 sturdy post-and-beam homesFeature Featuring a wood stove in New York and hand-hewn beams in New Hampshire
-
The Naked Gun: 'a dumb comedy of the expert kind'The Week Recommends Liam Neeson shows off his comedy chops in this reboot of Leslie Nielsen's crime spoof
