Books: Sweet and sour krauts, confusing scripts and a lot of punches in the mouth

Jan Rüger explores the paradox of how two such closely enmeshed nations could simultaneously be such formidable foes

If rongorongo emerged before any foreign business was transacted on the island, it would challenge our understanding of what writing was originally for

An archetypal figure of his time, the Major-General never sought – or gained – popularity, though the decisions he took on D-Day saved many comrades’ lives

In Niffenegger’s long-awaited sequel, Alba DeTamble slips between the past and a near-future world filled with robots, climate catastrophe, civil war and virtual reality museums

Spy, courtesan and femme fatale, the Italian aristocrat was considered one of the most beautiful women of 19th-century Europe – as well as one of the cruellest and most profligate

The mob lawyer’s mantra was never apologise or back down – and even though responsible for the execution of the clearly innocent Ethel Rosenberg, he declared: ‘I’d have pulled the lever myself’

The Republican cause may have been championed by the world’s leading poets, novelists and photojournalists, but in a largely illiterate society it was dramatic posters that mattered most

In his 97 chosen fights, John Sutherland discusses matters of race, class, empire and money, while never waxing too lyrical about an obscenely brutal sport

All is chaos in the lead-up to the 1951 Festival of Britain in this riot of colour and pageantry with Kafka-esque undertones