The Oldie’s Novel of the Month for December 2017 takes us back to 1792 and the time when the guillotines were well-oiled in the French Revolution. A harmless stranger arrives in Paris to meet a missing man, only to find himself in the middle of numerous conspiracies and needing to survive.

‘The Times Sports Book of the Year’ for 2017 looks into exactly what being ‘on form’ means, and whether it is in the lap of the gods or up to you. Former England cricket captain Brearley refers to his own experience, as well as to many different disciplines, including finance, teaching and music.

Joseph Conrad, of Heart of Darkness fame, was an immigrant, and his books voice the issues that gripped the world at the start of the 20th century: migration, and tensions between global capitalism and nationalism. A strong biography from one of the best historians writing today.

Naomi and Sam are holidaying with their parents when they come across a man washed up on a lonely beach. Faoud, they assume, is a Syrian refugee. But the best intentions can be deadly, and disaster ensues. This is less about Faoud, but more about the troubled lives of Naomi and Sam. 

This part-novel and part-manifesto examines the failures of fiction to account for the realities of memory as Amit Chaudhuri visits Mumbai, remembering his friend Ramu, a heroin addict recovering in rehab.

MacLaverty’s latest novel sees him send a couple, with more than forty years of marriage behind them, go on a short holiday to Amsterdam. An enthralling though tragic tale of how the marriage is starting to collapse, this is a poignant read for people of all ages.

According to some reviewers, Harris’s research is so impeccable that he could have cut the spy stuff and published this as a history book. His latest novel returns to the location of his first as he fictionalises Neville Chamberlain visiting Hitler in 1938 and is powerfully sympathetic.

Goodman believes the decade following 9/11 marked the resurgence of punk-inspired guitar rock, headed predominantly by the Strokes. With more than 160 original interviews, this is an entertaining and exhilarating read that beautifully captures the era.

This collection of 15 years’ worth of Stop Me If You’ve Heard This One Before columns from the music magazine Uncut is a very funny read. Including encounters with some of rock’s most iconic stars, this book traces the backstage brawls and superstar punch-ups that make the rock genre unique.

Combining his personal memories with a broader account of the time and what it meant, Goldberg looks beyond the Summer of Love and into deeper connotations, such as how the movement energised other more significant causes such as civil rights, feminism and the anti-war movement.

Richardson goes into unprecedented detail on an essential element of literature that is often overlooked: the houses around which stories are told. Richardson says that ‘the house commanding the centre of a story exerts a power over the characters’.

As the author announces, James Joyce had ‘a lifelong preoccupation with guilt, innocence, proof, framings and officials who were unscrupulous in the service of the Crown’. Hardiman explores Joyce’s fascination with law that is much reflected in his great works, Ulysses and Finnegans Wake.

As the amount of food produced in the British Isles that we eat continues to drop, despite our population rising, Pye-Smith makes a plea for our shrinking farms and agriculture industry to be replenished. The story he tells is hopeful; we can make a better, cleaner job of producing the food we need.

In 1936, unemployment in the Tyneside town of Jarrow had risen to 80 per cent after the shipyard was closed. This travelogue and social commentary tracks their 300-mile march to London and looks at just how much England has changed since then.

This anthology of poetry may do more for you than any prescription from your GP. With meditations on all situations – loneliness, bereavement, depression and so many more – this pocket-sized collection will be there for you when you need it most, at any time, any age, and any situation.

Each piece in this collection of 16 essays investigates a different famous animal named and immortalised by humans. Ranging from Yuka, the 39,000-year-old mummified mammoth, to Jumbo the elephant, these are witty, playful and provocative essays traversing history.

A taste of Tuscany comes to Chiswick. Many of the ingredients are imported from trusted farms and providers back home in Italy. A stunning façade and intimate interior make this an enjoyable place to be – before you have even tasted the food. 

Drinking and bath time are no longer mutually exclusive. Why not enjoy both at the same time with this can, glass or wine glass holder?

The ingredients of The Oldie’s Novel of the Month in January 2018 are not dissimilar from those of a gothic horror. Wiseman’s chilling family tale tells of a house in ruins, with each sibling and parent becoming more and more withdrawn from each other, with disastrous consequences.   

English novelist Wesley (1912-2002) enjoyed lively and intimate correspondence with her second husband, Eric Siepmann. Marnham suggests that it was through these letters that Wesley found her voice as a writer in the 1970s, a decade after the death of her beloved.

Inspired by his grandmother’s Indian heritage, and his annual visits to India and Pakistan, Wilkinson became particularly intrigued by the latter. He seeks the essence of the land behind the headlines of religious turmoil and unsafe streets.

Readers of ‘Little House’ books may believe they know Laura Ingalls Wilder; however, they are mistaken. With access to unpublished manuscripts, letters and diaries, Fraser fills in the numerous gaps in Wilder’s life story, offering a comprehensive biography uncovering the story behind the stories.

The Washington Monument, Capitol Hill, the Lincoln Memorial and the White House provide some of the iconic sights in America. What’s more, the international space and spy museums gives an entertaining look at the Cold War.

The Catalan capital offers all any culture-seeker could want. The amazing, albeit still unfinished Sagrada Familia cathedral dominates the skyline, while the Parc Guell offers another way to celebrate Gaudi. There are also Civil War tunnels, an Olympic Park and Europe’s largest stadium.    

One of Britain’s most acclaimed artists is currently showing in the double-size expansion at Tate St Ives. A retrospective, the exhibition shows the development of his abstract painting beginning with his early work in the 1940s and concluding with some of his final works.