Maya Angelou's account of her relationship with her mother, Vivian Baxter
Mom and Me and Mom homepage
Simon Morrison's moving biography about the wife of composer Serge Prokofiev
Simon Morrison - The Love and Wars of Lina Prokofiev homepage
Rory Carroll's biography of Hugo Chavez, the late president of Venezuela
Comandante homepage
Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jared Diamond asks what can traditional societies teach us
Jared Diamond - The World Until Yesterday homepage
Mark Binelli's portrait of a city in post-industrial decline
The Last Days of Detroit homepage
Singer Tracey Thorn of Everything But the Girl charts her personal and musical journey
Tracey Thorn - Bedsit Disco Queen homepage
Stories of families who learn to deal with their exceptional children, by Andrew Solomon
Andrew Solomon - Far From the Tree homepage
Andrew Wilson's book on the early life of writer Sylvia Plath, abridged by Miranda Davies
Mad Girl's Love Song homepage
Biography of the English composer by Paul Kildea
Benjamin Britten: A Life in the Twentieth Century homepage
William Dalrymple analyses the first Afghan war, 1839-1842. Read by Tim Pigott-Smith
Return of a King: The Battle for Afghanistan homepage
Lucy Hughes-Hallett charts the life of Italian politician and poet Gabriele D'Annunzio
The Pike: Gabriele D'Annunzio, Poet, Seducer and Preacher of War homepage
Paula Byrne explores the forces that shaped the interior life of the popular novelist
The Real Jane Austen homepage
By Stephen Grosz. Stories from the analyst's consulting room
The Examined Life homepage
Cheryl Strayed's account of hiking 1,100 miles alone through America's rugged west
Wild homepage
Childhood memoir of author Angela Thirkell. Read by Sian Thomas
Three Houses homepage
By Pete Brown. A history of pubs as seen through the story of one London inn, the George
Shakespeare's Local - Six Centuries of History Seen Through One Extraordinary Pub homepage
Julie Davidson searches Southern Africa for traces of explorer David Livingstone's wife
Looking for Mrs Livingstone homepage
By Mark Forsyth. Hidden delights from the English language to suit all hours of the day
The Horologicon homepage
By Tom Reiss. Biography of the father of French novelist Alexandre Dumas
The Black Count homepage
Biography by Artemis Cooper charting the life of the celebrated travel writer and war hero
Patrick Leigh Fermor: An Adventure homepage
Douglas Smith's account of the fate of the Russian aristocracy in the Bolshevik Revolution
Former People homepage
Michael Holroyd traces his and his biographical subjects' relationships with cars.
Michael Holroyd - On Wheels homepage
Yang Jishen's book on Mao's Great Famine, during which 36 million Chinese starved to death
Tombstone homepage
By Carol Shaben. True story of a plane crash in northern Canada and the four survivors
Into the Abyss homepage
Simon Garfield takes a journey through the story of maps
On the Map homepage
Writer Edna O'Brien reads her memoir
Edna O'Brien - Country Girl homepage
Rupert Everett's wickedly observant memoir charts the travails of a precarious career
Rupert Everett - Vanished Years homepage
Five extracts from the autobiography of Salman Rushdie, abridged by Katrin Williams
Joseph Anton homepage
Charlie Connelly on a meteorological journey through our national obsession, the weather.
Bring Me Sunshine - A Windswept, Rain-Soaked, Sun-Kissed, Snow-Capped Guide to Our Weather homepage
Seamus Heaney reads from his translation of the great Anglo-Saxon poem
Seamus Heaney - Beowulf homepage
