A History of the World in Twelve Shipwrecks
David Gibbins
Weidenfeld & Nicolson, £25, pp304
For most travellers at sea, a shipwreck is something terrifying, a riot of noise and confusion and destruction that often results in the loss of life. Yet David Gibbins’s fascinating exploration of historic shipwrecks reveals that there is more to them than simple tragedy. Detailing everything from the exploits of prehistoric sea traders to the heroic actions of those on board the second world war cargo ship Gairsoppa, Gibbins conveys unimaginable courage in tales of people pushing beyond their reach and leaving a valuable legacy.
Red Side Story
Jasper Fforde
Hodder & Stoughton, £20, pp384
Fforde is one of modern literature’s most reliably enjoyable visionaries, and his long-awaited Shades of Grey sequel will be eagerly seized upon by his admirers. Set in a futuristic Britain after a mysterious but seismic event, Red Side Story depicts a world in which awareness of colour dictates people’s place in society, much to the dismay of the book’s heroes, Eddie Russett and Jane Grey, who seek to escape the bounds of this colour-coordinated universe. The jokes are excellent, the pacing breathless and the last line a classic.
The Shadows of London
Andrew Taylor
Hemlock Press, £9.99, pp467 (paperback)
The sixth in Taylor’s thoroughly gripping series of Restoration-era mystery novels takes the action up to 1671, as James Marwood and Cat Lovett find themselves involved in the discovery of a corpse at an almshouse. As usual with these stories, the body leads to a wider conspiracy. Taylor has an almost outrageous amount of fun marshalling his conniving characters through 17th-century London, not least whenever his splendidly hissable antagonist the Duke of Buckingham reappears. And Cat, as ever, remains one of crime fiction’s most likably indomitable heroines.
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