Our selection of must-reads in non-fiction for the cosmopolitan reader.

Francis Bacon - Michael Peppiatt

A new selection of letters, statements and interviews reveal the preoccupations, thoughts and ideas of Francis Bacon.

Thunderclap - Laura Cumming

A beautifully illustrated new memoir of a life in art, a father and daughter, and what a shared love of a painting can come to mean.

All that Glitters - Orlando Whitfield

A sparklingly sharp memoir of greed, ambition and madness, All That Glitters will take you to the heart of the contemporary art world, a place wilder and wealthier than you could ever imagine.

Mortal Secrets - Frank Tallis

A chronicle of Vienna's Golden Age and the influence of Sigmund Freud on the modern world.

The Artist’s Journey - Travis Elborough

Follow in the footsteps of some of the world’s most famous painters in this fascinating work about travel and the art it inspires.

Ian Fleming: The Complete Man - Nicholas Shakespeare

A fresh portrait of the man behind James Bond, and his enduring impact by an award-winning biographer with unprecedented access to the Fleming family papers.

Izabela the Valiant - Adam Zamoyski

The turbulent history of Poland in the 18th and 19th centuries is told through the long life of one intrepid aristocrat.

Rural Hours - Harriet Baker

A superb portrait of the complex imprint the countryside makes on the mind, shown through the experiences of Virginia Woolf, Sylvia Townsend Warner and Rosamond Lehmann.

The Avant-Gardists - Sjeng Scheijen

A fascinating narrative biography of the art movement that transformed the modern world, tracing the lives and activities of the key protagonists as they set about a revolution in art in the Soviet Union.

The Book of Secrets - Xinran Xue

The story of a family in modern China with a history of deceit, betrayal and political intrigue, and the communist party's long shadow over them.

The Rebel’s Clinic - Adam Shatz

A searing biography of the short and harrowing life of Frantz Fanon, and a brilliant, nuanced exploration of his ideas.