Kim Jong-un's posturing over nuclear weapons is a distraction from more pressing concerns: the extreme poverty and disenfranchisement of his people, says North Korean defector Hyeonseo Lee.  She chooses five books for understanding the hermit kingdom.

Hong Kong continues to simmer with tension, two years on from the ‘Umbrella Protests’ that made news around the world. But will it lead to advances in democracy or crackdowns by Beijing? Jason Ng, lawyer and author of Umbrellas in Bloom, chooses five of the best books for understanding China’s ‘foster child’ city.

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.

Turkey’s most read author, Elif Shafak, describes Istanbul as ‘a she-city with a female personality’. She chooses five books on Turkey, including a biography of the she-city in all its vibrant energy and intensity.

In contrast to Eastern Europe, the 1989 protests in China did not lead to the overthrow of the Communist Party. But if China’s leaders chose the right course on June 4th, 1989, why are they still frightened to come to terms with it? Sinologist and historian Jeffrey Wasserstrom picks the best books to understand events at Beijing’s Tiananmen Square and around China on that hot summer night.

Palestinians living in Israel are cut off from both sides of the conflict and constantly trying to square the circle, argues Nazareth-based writer Jonathan Cook.

The writer and historian selects five Western perspectives of the East, including a novel of colonial India, a travelogue of disappearing Japan, and the collection of essays that lifted the veil on Mao's China.

Most British prime ministers would probably have made the same decision as Tony Blair and followed George W. Bush into war in Iraq in 2003, says the FT's chief foreign affairs commentator. 

The late China specialist and UCLA professor said sometimes he felt genuine admiration for China’s technocratic leaders. Other days he shook his head at their obsessive intransigence and China’s endemic political insecurity

The author explains the allure of desert nations, through a discussion of books including Arabian Sands by Wilfred Thesiger and Sultan In Oman by Jan Morris

The long-time foreign correspondent and author of books on Zaire, Eritrea and Kenya tells us where to turn for engaging foreign perspectives on Africa. She picks the best books on Africa.

Travelling to China? What are the best books to read to get a more in-depth understanding of this complex country? Longtime Beijing resident and New Yorker writer Evan Osnos picks some of his favourites.

The US Supreme Court Justice, Stephen Breyer, talks about the books that have influenced his thinking. He explains why reading widely, including literature, is essential for judges and lawyers.

The international editor of The Economist and author of a new book about Russia gives an excoriating critique of Putinism and explains how Russia’s amoral present is rooted in a failure to come to terms with its past

The much-travelled writer and broadcaster tells us about misunderstandings and misadventures of Americans in foreign lands

Before the era of nation states, the great Levantine cities of Beirut, Alexandria and Smyrna experienced what may seem like a golden age, as the author of Levant explains

Britain is a bewilderingly motley nation of phlegmatic grumblers, says the author and editor – a seaside resort-going, class-conscious people haunted by loss of empire, and we can’t even agree on what the country is called

Travel is a leap in the dark, says Paul Theroux; and one that will leave you a different person at the other end. He recommends five travel books that inspired him, from Mark Twain at sea to VS Naipaul in India

The three biggest Italian mafias remain a powerful presence, with tentacles reaching deep inside Italian business and politics. The author of Mafia Brotherhoods busts the myth that it’s all in the family

The veteran reporter and frequent visitor to Afghanistan tells us about the country he loves, and the Westerners (and Central Asian conqueror) who wrote engagingly about it.

The writer dubbed “LA’s number one muckraker” peels away the phoney baloney to tell us about power, pollution and pulp fiction in the City of Angels.

Nelson Mandela was a most unusual, and unusually astute, leader, says John Carlin. He used forgiveness as a political tool, in so doing ensuring that South Africa avoided what could have been a bloodbath

Novelist Jonathan Evison recommends books that capture a sense of the rugged landscape and people of the American West.

Israeli historian Gabriel Piterberg tells us about works of scholarship that have challenged the Zionist Israeli narrative of modern history.

The author and eminent Arabist tells us about the rich tradition in Islam of travelling to gain knowledge, and directs us towards some of those, both Western and Arab, who’ve inspired with their tales of life on the road.

The historian tells us how French condescension towards America goes back to the 18th century, but more recent antagonisms can be traced to the Second World War

The Norwegians were masters of polar exploration because they were better prepared and did not glamourize it. Author and journalist Roland Huntford picks the best books on the early history of polar exploration.

Discussions about Tibet are often reduced to arguments about China’s right to run it. The Tibetologist says this obscures a much more subtle debate about what it means to be Tibetan in modern Tibetan society.

Vegas tugs on the imagination like few other places. A sin city journalist tells us about innocent beginnings, muckraking and mobsters, and how Vegas has changed through boom and bust

For all its problems, Pakistan is not a failed state, says the academic and writer. He recommends what to read if we’re to grasp the nuances of this complex and potentially explosive nation

The changing relationship between China and America will be one of the defining foreign policy issues of our times. To understand its dynamic, says the sinologist, we must take account of China’s lingering sense of victimhood

A century after the fall of China’s last imperial dynasty, the legacy of revolution remains deeply ambiguous in today’s People’s Republic. The China scholar tells us about the country’s tumultuous changes from 1911 to the present day

The city of romance and art is also, like most big cities, a place of grit and grime. The American writer and long-time Paris resident tells us where to look if we’re to understand the people and past of this most alluring city.

National borders are fertile territory for fiction, says the immigration expert. She recommends five novels about migration and border crossings, and explains why the US-Mexico border is an open wound

Everyday life in Iran is often mischaracterised, says the Iranian author and academic – especially when it comes to the struggles of its women. She recommends five books that give us a window on Iranian history and family life

The neoconservative view that the US has a special mission in the world was supercharged by 9/11. There was also a sense that 9/11 could make America better. Sadly it didn’t work out that way, says Peter Beinart

The historian reflects on the past 60 years of American involvement in Egypt and tells us, after the Arab Spring, what may make the coming years different

Vladimir Putin has crafted a careful narrative about his rise to power and rescuing of Russia. The trouble, says author and academic Simon Pirani, is it isn’t true

The US has repeatedly misdiagnosed the war in Afghanistan. Former soldier, Andrew Exum, tells us about flawed policy, unhappy outcomes and what could and should have been different.

The Ghanaian economist denounces the failure of leadership and Western policy in Africa and explains what “African solutions to African problems” would mean in practice

The veteran journalist, who has lived in India for most of his life, talks about the country’s new-found self-confidence and recommends books to better understand its history and complexities

The author of the acclaimed noir novels Black Water Rising and The Cutting Season tells us about stories of freed slaves, oil barons and gangsters on the run – books that capture the outlaw spirit of her home state.

The former British MP says the myths we have perpetuated about the West are dangerous and need to be revised. He tells us what we should read to understand the changing world order

The Middle East scholar tells us what to read if we’re to understand where upheaval in the Arab world came from, and where it’s going.

India’s first-ever consul general to Karachi says Pakistan is not a failed state. He is convinced that its middle class will save it from the Taliban, and that it can engage with India and set aside historic hostilities.

The much-travelled author Colin Thubron reflects on more than 40 years of writing about other cultures, and shares his own favourite travel reading with us

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 South African novelist gives us an unvarnished view of the writer’s life, and explains how literature told the story of apartheid and why comedy is the easiest way to talk about race

The influential blogger and journalist tells us why there’s so much misinformation about the Arab world, and suggests what we should read to improve our understanding of the region’s history and current turmoil