The concept of ‘race’ is misleading and inaccurate, says the veteran broadcaster Kurt Barling. Here he recommends the best Five Books on racism, and reveals what he said to Enoch Powell when they came face to face.

French philosopher and sociologist Geoffroy de Lagasnerie argues for a more realist political theory, one that fully acknowledges that state violence is the one thing in your life that you can never escape. His selection includes works by Michel Foucault and Walter Benjamin, as well as a history of the Black Panther Party.

Kenneth W. Mack, the  Lawrence D. Biele Professor of Law at Harvard University, discusses the warring ideals of egalitarianism and exclusion at the heart of US politics and law, from the founding of the nation up to the present day.

Why has anti-Semitism been such a problem down the ages, and why does it persist today? The emeritus director of the Anti-Defamation League, Abraham Foxman, recommends the best books to better understand anti-Semitism.

Race is a real and powerful force and one he has spent his adult life trying to understand,  says Anglo-Nigerian historian, writer and producer, David Olusoga. He talks us through five books on the tragedy of slavery—from the horrors of the gulag, to the plantations of Virginia, to the Islamic slave trade.

China’s minority peoples have shaped the country’s history and its identity. They led its most successful dynasty, the Qing. But nowadays, their role has been reduced to that of tourist spectacle. Beijing-based writer James Palmer picks the best books on China’s ethnic minorities.

The author and journalist describes how racism, violence, and corruption became entrenched in police departments across America. He picks five books describing a stark reality, and suggests a blueprint for change

Their language indicates they originated in India, but the music they play is world music. Some will tell your fortune but they don't believe in supernatural powers. Yaron Matras recommends the best books and dispels some common myths about Gypsies.

Nelson Mandela was a most unusual and unusually astute leader, says journalist and author of Playing the Enemy, John Carlin. He chooses the best books to understand Nelson Mandela, who used forgiveness as a political tool, and South Africa, the country he brought peacefully out of apartheid.

There's a lot more to the story of colonists and Native Americans than the tale of the first Thanksgiving taught in school, says history professor Colin Calloway.

Critics claim that Muslims don’t fit in with our secular policies but, although Britain may be a secular country, the ways in which we are secular are ways inclusive of religious people, says sociology professor Tariq Modood. He recommends the best books on multiculturalism.

The novelist reveals amongst her book selection that Minnesota has the highest number of Korean adoptees in the US (14,000), and that one in every 250 Korean births is adopted by an American family

The award-winning South African writer Kevin Bloom discusses five books that bring light to post-apartheid South Africa with focus on the predicament of the white South African. Do whites ‘deserve’ to feel at home in their country?

The chairman of the Equalities & Human Rights Commission says discrimination and social injustice won’t be changed by what happens in courtrooms or parliament but by how we all behave

The award-winning novelist thinks Africans want to know how it is that white men have got their hands on all the money. He picks five books on what it means and meant to be white in Africa