Best of the Moment
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FiveBooks Interviews
The response to Haiti’s earthquake was criticised for lack of coordination, and workers accused of putting on a show for the TV cameras. Here, Cassie Knight, who has been involved in relief work for ten years, chooses FiveBooks on aid.
With his latest book, Operation Mincemeat, now topping The Sunday Times non-fiction bestseller list, Ben Macintyre picks the best of British espionage stories.
The fiercely debated influence of the Israel lobby sparks continuous controversy around the world, but Professor Stephen Walt says the US Israel lobby benefits nobody and is particularly harmful to both Israel and the US. He chooses FiveBooks on US-Israel relations.
The hot postings for spies right now are Kabul and Baghdad – places where you can’t take your family, says novelist Charles Cumming. Here he discusses why he chose to write about espionage rather than practise it, and the FiveBooks that influenced him.
As the RAF’s first all-female helicopter crew heads for Helmand, self-confessed armchair aviator Steve Darlow tells us about the 800 RAF pilots who were lynched on the ground in WWII and chooses the best FiveBooks on British wartime pilots.
Simon Mann's release from prison in Equatorial Guinea last month revived
memories of his failed coup attempt. Stephen Armstrong, author of War Plc,
reflects on the rise of the corporate mercenary and chooses FiveBooks that
explore the subject.
South Africa is gearing up to host the World Cup and many Sowetans are saying that it will be a jamboree for Europeans. Here Sam Kiley chooses FiveBooks about colonial and apartheid Africa which offer a historical context for such views.
Pirates: romantic heroes or evil criminals? As a British couple are currently held hostage by Somali pirates, historian Adrian Tinniswood examines perceptions of piracy which, he says, often involve subconscious racism
Pakistani soldiers captured the hometown of the country's Taliban chief yesterday as the army pushes deeper into militant strongholds along the Afghan border. Journalist Gretchen Peters says the Taliban are more like Mafiosi than holy warriors and she chooses the best Five Books on the border country.
As the United Nations votes to back NATO-led forces in Afghanistan, UN veteran Edward Mortimer says sticking to your principles is easier said than done. He chooses the best Five Books on the UN.