The Border'The Border' is a book about Russian and Russian history without its author ever entering Russia itself; a book about being the neighbour of that mighty, expanding empire throughout history. It is a chronicle of the colourful, exciting, tragic and often unbelievable histories of these bordering nations, their cultures, their people, their landscapes.

For centuries the caliphate was both ascendant on the battlefield and triumphant in the battle of ideas

friendship and family

shop assistants who talk in code

and then comes the cruellest twist: the contestants for the nextHunger Games are announced

ongoing debates over reparations or controversies surrounding historical monuments and the contested memories they evoke

As she inches closer to the twisted truths at the centre of these murders

An anxious Georgie quits her job

In 'Mercies'

The massive Christmas 2011 bestseller and Radio 4 Book of the Week

David took a DNA test

face up to failure

whatever their politics