His latest work, The Square and The Tower: Networks, Hierarchies and the Struggle for Global Power (Penguin, £25, buy it here), is an ambitious and illuminating attempt at a different kind of history - the history of the network. One person who has been warning us of the dangers of not confronting Islamist ideology for many years is Niall Ferguson, the historian who more than most connects our age to its past. Shamsie tackles issues of terrorism, political showboating and jihadi recruitment in London through the prism of a classic two-sides-of-the-track love story. The first is the fiery new novel by Kamila Shamsie, Home Fire (Bloomsbury, £16.99, but it here), which takes us from the suburban streets of Wembley to the killing grounds of Islamic State-ravaged Raqqa. Here are two books that have helped us interpret our confusing world this year. The anecdote inspired writer and naturalist Lyanda Lynn Haupt to consider the relationship between starlings, music and language in a scholarly and delightful book, whose pages are enlivened by the subversive presence of her pet starling, Carmen.
On May 27, 1784, Mozart was passing a bird-seller’s shop in Vienna when he heard a starling whistle a phrase from his as yet unperformed Piano Concerto No 17 in G. Mozart’s Starling (Corsair, £14.99, buy it here) by Lyanda Lynn Haupt. New West End Company BRANDPOST | PAID CONTENT.Tej Kohli & Ruit Foundation BRANDPOST | PAID CONTENT.
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