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Charlie Cooper, lecturer in community and youth work studies, University of Hull, is reading Harry Leslie Smith¡¯s Love Among the Ruins: A Memoir of Life and Love in Hamburg, 1945 (Icon, 2015). ¡°Smith is best known for Harry¡¯s Last Stand, a moving and passionate defence of the Keynesian welfare state promised us in 1942. This latest book is a love story set in post-war Hamburg, telling the tale of Harry¡¯s first weeks with his future German wife, Friede, at a time when relations with the ¡®enemy¡¯ were censured. It is an equally moving and passionate account.¡±

Clare Debenham, tutor in the department of politics, University of Manchester, is reading Chris Mullin¡¯s A Very British Coup (Serpent¡¯s Tail, 2010). ¡°Mullin was a Labour member of Parliament for 23 years. It is rare for political fact to follow political fiction, but this 1982 novel is an exception. Against all odds, Harry Perkins, a former steelworker, has led the Labour Party to a resounding victory. His manifesto causes dissent. The end is predictable but the journey fascinating.¡±

Maria Delgado, professor and director of research, Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, University of London, is reading Jean Graham-Jones¡¯ Evita, Inevitably. Performing Argentina¡¯s Female Icons Before and After Eva Per¨®n (University of Michigan Press, 2015). ¡°A fascinating treatment of myth-making in modern Argentina, focusing on the iconisation of women who have played a decisive role in the construction of the country¡¯s national imaginary. Eva Per¨®n vies with the country¡¯s patron saint, the Virgin of Luj¨¢n, and pop performer Gilda with President Cristina Fern¨¢ndez de Kirchner. A compelling positing of the packaging of Evita within wider discourses of celebrity, stardom and artistic performance.¡±

Sue Reeves, principal lecturer in nutrition and health, University of Roehampton, is reading Christopher McDougall¡¯s Natural Born Heroes: The Lost Secrets of Strength and Endurance (Profile, 2015). ¡°The true story of how a band of maverick Second World War resistance fighters kidnapped a general from Nazi-occupied Crete. Forgotten techniques of strength and endurance including the elastic recoil properties of fascia, the utilisation of fat as a metabolic fuel, natural movement and foraging for food provide evidence in an explanation of how they accomplished their daring plan and evaded capture.¡±

Nigel Rodenhurst, part-time lecturer in English, Aberystwyth University, is reading Herman Melville¡¯s Redburn (Modern Library Classics, 2002). ¡°Obscured by the shadows cast by Moby-Dick and Bartleby, the Scrivener, Melville¡¯s boyhood adventure story is sometimes categorised with his ¡®lesser¡¯ early work. I would support those who dispute this, because in addition to the novel¡¯s obvious historical value, the literary and meta-fictional aspects praised in Melville¡¯s later work are also present. This is much more than a good page-turner.¡±