author of The Prestige, The Separation and the story collection Episodes
One of the relatively untold stories of WW2 is what happened to the ordinary German civilians who suffered under the RAF air raids on the cities, what degree of ruination was caused and what the German authorities did about it, during and after hostilities. It is only comparatively recently that German historians have started to research this.
Moorhouse is a British writer, and his subject is restricted to the story of Berlin (by no means the worst affected city).
A calm summary of and argument for the science of global warming, the author’s position being basically that although mankind is obviously responsible for some of the greenhouse gases and pollution affecting the world, most of the problem arises from natural causes. The book is eloquent and persuasive, and handy to have around if you get into an argument on the subject, but I keep an open mind. April 2011 in Britain was the hottest and driest April on record, and now in May the Kent crop of strawberries is ready, delicious and delicate – and a month early. They grow wine grapes on the hillsides around my English town. The sea level rises by about half a centimetre a year. (22 May 2011)