The C&TH Gift Guide for Book Lovers

Fiction

Robert Harris’s latest novel V2 is a masterly historical thriller set against Hitler’s rocket attacks on London in November 1944. Atmospheric and authentic, Harris simultaneously entertains and informs with great élan. A terrific read. £20, penguin.co.uk

Short Stories

The Golden Age of British Short Stories 1890-1914, edited by Philip Hensher, is a treasure trove of works by some of the great names of British literature from Kipling to Lawrence via Wilde, Hardy and Conrad. £25, penguin.co.uk

Stocking Fillers

Toksvig’s Almanac 2021 is a diary of fascinating, obscure and extraordinary facts, ideal for browsing throughout the year. £14.99, hachette.co.uk

The Ordnance Survey Great British Treasure Hunt will entertain the family for hours. £14.99, ordnancesurvey.co.uk

Memoir

Kiss Myself Goodbye is Ferdinand Mount’s wonderful memoir of his aunt Munca. As gripping as any detective novel, it’s occasionally funny but often shocking, sad and moving, a microcosm of human resilience and frailty. £14, bloomsbury.com

History

GCHQ lies at the heart of this country’s security, eavesdropping on our foes. John Ferris’s fascinating Behind the Enigma lays bare many of its secrets, revealing a century of covert operations, the hidden side of history. £12.99, bookshop.org

Britain

The Official History of Britain by Boris Starling is a cornucopia of statistics illuminating every aspect of our national life, past and present, in life, death, love, work and much more besides, perfect ammunition for every festive debate. £14.99, bookshop.org

For weather watchers and amateur forecasters, Very British Weather would make the perfect present. £16.99, penguin.co.uk

Travel

Far and Away is a delicious collection of the late AA Gill’s travel writing. The pieces bear all the hallmarks of Gill’s writing: wit, irreverence, perceptiveness, and the cascading virtuosity of his prose. £20, bookshop.org

London

London’s railway termini are a monument to Victorian taste and ingenuity, now revived and re-imagined for the 21st century. Christian Wolmar’s Cathedrals of Steam is their story and London’s, vividly and intimately intertwined. £25, atlantic-books.co.uk

Children

Wild City by Ben Hoare is a charming introduction to the bewildering and often unexpected variety of animals which share our cities with us. Lucy Rose’s vivid illustrations bring these unusual city dwellers to life. £12.99, bookshop.org

Maggie O’Farrell’s Where Snow Angels Go is an enchanting children’s story, full of wonder and mystery, beautifully illustrated by Daniela Jaglenka Terrazzini. £14.99, walker.co.uk

Diaries

Lionel Barber was editor of the Financial Times from 2005 to 2020. His diaries, The Powerful and the Damned, tell the fascinating inside story of these years of political, financial, and economic upheaval in riveting detail. £25, penguin.co.uk

Food

James Strawbridge’s The Artisan Kitchen will inspire you to teach yourself – or rediscover – the time-honoured culinary techniques of preserving, curing, smoking, and potting. This is cooking at nature’s pace, unhurried and rewarding. £20, dk.com

The Flexible Family Cookbook by Jo Pratt gives 75 quick recipes with over 200 variations to accommodate fussy children and picky teenagers. £20, bookshop.org

Wine

On Bordeaux, edited by Susan Keevil, is a sumptuous tasting of grand cru writing about the bountiful produce of the world’s greatest wine-growing region, spanning a timeline of three centuries. A wine buff’s delight. £30, academieduvinlibrary.com