The fear behind the Terror
A review of The Coming of the Terror in the French Revolution by Timothy Tackett and Stuff and Money in the Time of the French Revolution by Rebecca L. Spang suggests that fear rather than optimism was the driving force of the French revolution
Futurist at a dead end
A review of Mayakovsky by Bengt Jangfeldt reveals how the great avant-garde Russian poet lost his voice to Soviet doublespeak
Suffering in style
Nobody is Missing by Catherine Lacey, a novel of extremes about a woman on the very edge, is a stylish rendering of acute suffering
The man who disappeared
A review of Most Secret Agent of Empire by Taline Ter Minassian explores the lengths one British spy went to to avoid the long arm of Soviet vengeance
Lights flash — rockets go off — a star is born
A review of Cowboys and Indies by Gareth Murphy pays tribute to the men behind the scenes in the music industry
The absolute pits
In a review of Girls will be Girls by Emer O’Toole Julie Burchill dismisses the feminist now most famous for her hairy armpits
The great defection deception
A review of Stalin’s Agent by Boris Volodarsky unearths many nuggets of gold about 20th-century Russian intelligence history
Lights, camera, action
A review of The Illuminations praises Andrew O’Hagan’s equally vivid portrayals of an old woman with dementia and a young squaddie home from Afghanistan
In and out of Africa
A review of Alexandra Fuller’s Leaving Before the Rains Come celebrates a writer born to capture the tragi-comedy of her deeply eccentric family life
Swan’s way
As the Royal Ballet’s controversial Anthony Dowell staging of Swan Lake begins its last ever season, Ismene Brown explores why this ballet remains such an enduring enigma
Talent show
Though some of the music is formulaic, there’s no gainsaying the vocal writing or the performances from Juan Diego Florez and Joyce DiDonato
There will be blood
Plus: Jonathan Powell delivers an extraordinarily generous gift to scheming Blairites three months before the election
Ukip’s new recruits
Plus: J.K. Rowling reveals her grisly Stalinist social agenda in BBC One’s The Casual Vacancy and a Downton Tikka Masla from Channel 4
Spitting Image
As ITV attempts to resurrect the 80s satire, William Cook wonders whether it was actually any good
Real life
It’s hooey but I was a sucker for the promise of safety and security —until I added up the premiums
Long life
Now that the young are turning tee-total, the best hope for the survival of heavy drinking lies with the old
The Bradstock mystery
Owners should be falling over themselves to fill another 20 boxes at this brilliant stable
