33 Place Brugmann
Alice Austen
Bloomsbury, £16.99, pp368
Set in Brussels as the Nazis invade Belgium, Austen’s debut novel focuses on the inhabitants of a large apartment building. There’s a Jewish art dealer and his family, an art student and her father, an elderly gossip and a talented seamstress. As the war progresses, each must decide who they can trust. Polyphonic in structure, the distinctiveness of each narrative voice is testament to Austen’s skill and the resulting novel is both intimate and ambitious, lyrical and moving.
The Decline and Fall of the Human Empire: Why Our Species is on the Edge of Extinction
Henry Gee
Picador, £18.99, pp288
In his latest highly engaging work of popular science, Gee explores whether the human race is doomed. Highlighting the many cousins of Homo sapiens driven to extinction – from neanderthals to Homo floresiensis – he goes on to examine aspects of more recent history that threaten our future, from our reliance on agriculture to climate change. But Gee is not without hope, suggesting that the future of humanity lies not on Earth but in space.
A History of the World in 47 Borders: The Stories Behind the Lines on Our Maps
Jonn Elledge
Wildfire, £10.99, pp384
Taking a lateral view of history, Elledge focuses on the borders between territories, states and counties, and how they have been shaped by political forces. In entertaining, short chapters, he traverses wide sweeps of history from the Roman empire to the US-Mexican border by way of Russia, India and Korea. With a breezy, conversational tone, Elledge writes with wry humour and infectious enthusiasm.
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