Reviewed in March

Daan van der Walt, a Latin-quoting, God-fearing former Kalahari farmer, visits his estranged son in China for the first time. When he has a vertigo attack soon after his arrival, his son drops him off at a Buddhist monastery. Under the guidance of Master Yang, an obstreperous Daan is made to practice Tai Chi to recover his balance, both physically and spiritually. He soon finds himself on a difficult path (the Dao of the title) to come to terms with his feelings of remorse and guilt. He sets out to write his Historia, or confessions, in the form of letters to his deceased wife and imaginary observations to his beloved dog. An unusual, often very funny, novel whose fields of reference include Roman and Greek mythology, Christian theology, Chinese history and Daoism. An astounding debut by an octogenarian author; translated by Michiel Heyns.

Read more less

From the master storyteller and internationally bestselling author - the story of humanity from prehistory to the present day, told through the one thing all humans have in common: family. We begin with the footsteps of a family walking along a beach 950,000 years ago. From here, Montefiore takes us on an exhilarating epic journey through the families that have shaped our world: the Caesars, Medicis and Incas, Ottomans and Mughals, Bonapartes, Habsburgs and Zulus, Rothschilds, Rockefellers and Krupps, Churchills, Kennedys, Castros, Nehrus, Pahlavis and Kenyattas, Saudis, Kims and Assads.A rich cast of complex characters form the beating heart of the story. Some are well-known leaders, from Alexander the Great, Attila, Ivan the Terrible and Genghis Khan to Hitler, Thatcher, Obama, Putin and Zelensky. Some are creative, from Socrates, Michelangelo and Shakespeare to Newton, Mozart, Balzac, Freud, Bowie and Tim Berners-Lee.Others are lesser-known: Hongwu, who began life as a beggar and founded the Ming dynasty; Kamehameha, conqueror of Hawaii; Zenobia, Arab empress who defied Rome; King Henry of Haiti; Lady Murasaki, first female novelist; Sayyida al-Hurra, Moroccan pirate-queen. Here are not just conquerors and queens but prophets, charlatans, actors, gangsters, artists, scientists, doctors, tycoons, lovers, wives, husbands and children.This is world history on the most grand and intimate scale - spanning centuries, continents and cultures, and linking grand themes of war, migration, plague, religion, medicine and technology to the people at the centre of the human drama. As spellbinding as fiction, The World captures the story of humankind in all its joy, sorrow, romance, ingenuity and cruelty in a ground-breaking, single narrative that will forever shift the boundaries of what history can achieve.

Read more less

*** THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER! ***Global icon John Grisham returns to Mississippi in his most gripping thriller yet.'As ever with Grisham there are corkscrew twists and turns as he ratchets up the suspense. It is exceptional story-telling, which leaves the reader begging for the novel never to end. Grisham has sold more than 300 million copies of his work. This shows exactly why' DAILY MAILFor most of the last hundred years, Biloxi was known for its beaches, resorts, and seafood industry. But it had a darker side. It was also notorious for corruption and vice, everything from gambling, prostitution, bootleg liquor, drugs . . . even contract killings. The vice was controlled by a small cabal of mobsters, many of them rumoured to be members of the Dixie Mafia.Keith Rudy and Hugh Malco grew up in Biloxi in the sixties and were childhood friends. But as teenagers, their lives took them in different directions. Keith's father became a legendary prosecutor, determined to 'clean up the Coast.' Hugh's father became the 'Boss' of Biloxi's criminal underground. Keith went to law school and followed in his father's footsteps. Hugh preferred the nightlife and worked in his father's clubs. The two families were headed for a showdown, one that would happen in a courtroom.Rich with history and with a large cast of unforgettable characters, The Boys from Biloxi is a sweeping saga of two sons of immigrant families who grow up as friends, but ultimately find themselves in a knife-edge legal confrontation in which life itself hangs in the balance.In this novel, Grisham takes his powerful storytelling to the next level, his trademark twists and turns will keep you tearing through the pages until the stunning conclusion.'It's a story that spans half a century and ends inevitably in a courtroom showdown. A morally complex, compelling and illuminating read' MAIL ON SUNDAY'Invites comparisons with the Godfather trilogy - it spans two generations and several postwar decades - and has a vast cast and a winning energy' SUNDAY TIMES 350+ million copies, 45 languages, 10 blockbuster films:NO ONE WRITES DRAMA LIKE JOHN GRISHAM

Read more less