The co-founder of the Hay Festival recommends books to spark debate and change minds. He is director of a new series of events, The Conversation, at St Martin-in-the-Fields.
Underland
A wondrous book about landscape and the living world that may change for ever and for better how we see our planet and our place here. Give it to everyone you love. Hell, give it to everyone you meet.
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Two Sisters
Åsne Seierstad, 2016
As in her unsparing study of the terrorist Anders Breivik, "One of Us", the Norwegian war reporter and investigative journalist takes us deep into the violent radicalisation of young Westerners, and their journeys out of the societies they grew up in and into the Syrian jihad.
The Lives of the Caesars
Suetonius, translated by Tom Holland, 2025
Today's Washington has nothing on Suetonius's Ancient Rome. You want to see crazy power run wild? Tom Holland brings his dearest "Father of the Show" into vivid, glorious English in this new translation.
The Wife of Bath: A Biography
Marion Turner, 2023
A love letter to Chaucer's favourite pilgrim, the fabulous and insatiable woman who is at the heart of "The Canterbury Tales". A book as bawdy and brilliant and celebratory as she is.
The Lorax
Dr Seuss, 1971
"Unless...". This is how to do it: irresistible language and storytelling, utterly persuasive eco-politics. We plant the Festivals Forest in Iceland because he wrote about truffula trees.
A Barrister for the Earth
Monica Feria-Tinta, published in April
Change needs everyone from protesters rebelling to CEOs and politicians reversing policy. Most of all it needs us to assess priorities. And it needs lawyers such as Monica Feria-Tinta to call and fight for the rights of the voiceless. This is how to do it too.
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The former largest iceberg is turning blue. It’s a bad sign.Under the radar It is quickly melting away
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Why Saudi Arabia is muscling in on the world of animeUnder the Radar The anime industry is the latest focus of the kingdom’s ‘soft power’ portfolio
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Scoundrels, spies and squires in January TVthe week recommends This month’s new releases include ‘The Pitt,’ ‘Industry,’ ‘Ponies’ and ‘A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms’
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Giving up the boozeFeature Sobriety is not good for the alcohol industry.
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Striking homes with indoor poolsFeature Featuring a Queen Anne mansion near Chicago and mid-century modern masterpiece in Washington
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Film reviews: ‘No Other Choice,’ ‘Dead Man’s Wire,’ and ‘Father Mother Sister Brother’Feature A victim of downsizing turns murderous, an angry Indiana man takes a lender hostage, and a portrait of family by way of three awkward gatherings
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Courgette and leek ijeh (Arabic frittata) recipeThe Week Recommends Soft leeks, tender courgette, and fragrant spices make a crisp frittata
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Avatar: Fire and Ash – third instalment feels like ‘a relic of an earlier era’Talking Point Latest sequel in James Cameron’s passion project is even ‘more humourless’ than the last
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The Zorg: meticulously researched book is likely to ‘become a classic’The Week Recommends Siddharth Kara’s harrowing account of the voyage that helped kick-start the anti-slavery movement
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The Housemaid: an enjoyably ‘pulpy’ concoctionThe Week Recommends Formulaic psychological horror with Sydney Sweeney is ‘kind of a scream’
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William Nicholson: a ‘rich and varied’ exhibitionThe Week Recommends The wide-ranging show brings together portraits, illustrations, prints and posters, alongside ‘ravishing’ still lifes
