The best-selling novelist tells us about books that evoke the land of his parents, from a noirish take on contemporary Havana to the cabaret scene of pre-Castro Cuba

The acclaimed Haitian author chooses five must-reads from the riches of Haitian literature – including 19th-century poems by a ruler’s daughter.

Five books on Jamaica as chosen by an expert. Covers history, geography, even reggae – which Bob Marley isn’t at all, apparently. ‘It’s the kind of airbrushed version of reggae, with rock music overlaid’

Author and historian has a fascination with pirates and says that the pirates of history are surprisingly similar to the pirates of today. He discusses five books that show how piracy helped forge an empire