Benedict King

In early January 2026 US forces arrested the president of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro and took him into custody in the US, charged with drug offences. Political scientist Julia Buxton chooses five books on modern Venezuelan politics and explains that this is only the latest political catastrophe to befall a country that has been plagued by its vast oil reserves. An endowment of natural resources that was expected to make the country rich when they were discovered in the early 20th century has only succeeded in making it poor and politically unstable.

Friedrich Hayek was not a great formal economist, but he has been hugely influential politically and in the evolution of modern microeconomics, perhaps in spite of himself, argues Philip Mirowski, a historian and philosopher of economic thought. He talks us through books to better understand the Austrian émigré who ended up in the United States as the great convener of neo-liberalism in the mid-20th century and whose ideas are still influential in the new populism.

Communication is critical to getting on in our lives and in business, but many of us fall short in communicating what we want in the right way to the right audiences. Matt Abrahams of Stanford’s Graduate School of Business talks us through five books packed with practical advice on how to improve your communication skills—from the insights of improvisational theater to the acronym to use if you want people to remember what you’ve said.

More than a century after it went down, our fascination with the Titanic shows no signs of dimming, its story told in numerous books and movies—both fact and fiction. Steven Biel, a historian at Harvard, recommends books to read about the Titanic, from early first-person accounts of the disaster to a comprehensive and lavishly illustrated reference guide.  

Now in its 70th year, the Duff Cooper Prize is awarded annually for an outstanding work of nonfiction that combines originality, rigour and a strong narrative drive—the kind of book that “general readers of serious nonfiction crave,” explains Andrew Holgate, former literary editor of the Sunday Times and one of this year’s judges. He talks us through the brilliant books that made the 2026 shortlist, from a fresh and revealing take on the defeat of Hitler to the politics of wolves in contemporary Europe.

The Holy Roman Empire was a loose confederation of heterogeneous states that lasted a thousand years, from 800 to 1806. In the early modern period, it developed some common institutions, but these failed to contain the forces of disunity. Barbara Stollberg-Rilinger, a professor of history at the University of Münster, recommends books to learn more about an empire that played a key role in European history but is often absent from national narratives.

Frederick the Great (1712-1786) embodied two ideas of kingship: on the one hand, the traditional one of the warrior monarch, and on the other, an enlightened monarch, patron of the arts, a social reformer, and the friend of philosophes like Voltaire. It is on this dual character of his rule that his perennially high reputation rests, says historian Adam Storring. He introduces us to both sides of Frederick’s kingly character and recommends books to learn more about the brilliant military campaigner who led Prussia from 1740 until his death nearly half a century later.

The Wolfson History Prize is awarded annually for historical writing that is both brilliantly researched and a great read. Professor Helen King, one of this year’s judges, talks us through the 2025 shortlist and explains why each book stood out.

The history of the Aztecs is the best documented of all the Native American peoples, shedding light on life in the Americas before the arrival of the conquistadors. Professor Michael E. Smith, an archaeologist at Arizona State University, introduces books about the Aztec Empire — with a focus on documentary sources and artefacts that reveal not only how the elites lived, but also ordinary people.

Donald Trump has famously said that tariff is a ‘beautiful’ word.  Most economists disagree. Here trade expert, Dmitry Grozoubinski, explains what tariffs are, what they have been, and can be, used to achieve and suggests five books to help you get up to speed on the current trade wars.