My books of 2012

Two-thousand-and-twelve was a bumper year for quality non-fiction. Here is a selection of my top books from the last twelve months:

A compulsive combination of travel, history, ethnography and memoir  from the acclaimed Indian writer. An absolute gem.

A counter intuitive and engaging study of Asia's intellectual response to Western imperialism that contains many lessons for Africa.

A compelling exploration of the years immediately following World War II and preceding the Cold War that expose the depths of European postwar depravity.

The subtitle to this epic examination of  postwar Eastern Europe says it all. Scholarly and  engaging, Pulitzer Prize winner, Anne Applebaum delivers a timely history lesson.

I must admit, I haven't actually read Artemis Cooper's comprehensive biography of the late travel writer, however, having listened to extracts on Radio 4's Book of the Week, it's top of my list for 2013.