In 2011, two years before his death, Pulitzer Prize winning novelist Oscar Hijuelos told 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’

People see in pirates what they want to see, says historian and author Adrian Tinniswood. He recommends five fascinating books about pirates.