Autumn is always a busy time for publishing, with new titles hitting the shelves in the run-up to Christmas. From football legend Arsene Wenger’s autobiography to a timely new novel by Don DeLillo, and studies on Africans in Europe and Boris Johnson in between, here are the New Statesman‘s highlights of the autumn book calendar.
Rage
by Bob Woodward
A behind-the-scenes account of the Trump presidency from the reporter who, with Carl Bernstein, exposed the Watergate scandal in 1972.
Simon & Schuster, out now
Islands of Mercy
by Rose Tremain
A novel spanning Bath and Borneo in the 19th century, from one of our most assured writers of historical fiction.
Chatto & Windus, out now
Agent Sonya: Lover, Mother, Soldier, Spy
by Ben Macintyre
The remarkable story of a German Jewish spy who helped the Soviet Union build the atom bomb, from the bestselling author of Agent Zigzag.
Viking, out now
More than a Woman
by Caitlin Moran
In the follow-up to her phenomenally successful feminist memoir, How to Be a Woman, the Times columnist tackles the challenges of middle age.
Ebury Press, out now
Mantel Pieces
by Hilary Mantel
Twenty essays and reviews, ranging from Madonna to Marlowe and including the provocative “Royal Bodies” lecture from 2013.
Fourth Estate, 1 October
Tom Stoppard: A Life
by Hermione Lee
A great biographer takes on a great playwright – at suitably great length.
Faber & Faber, 1 October
My Life in Red and White: My Autobiography
by Arsène Wenger
The Arsenal manager refused a ghost-writer for this keenly anticipated memoir.
Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 13 October
Love
by Roddy Doyle
Doyle sticks to home turf in this story of two old friends meeting up over pints in Dublin and reflecting on the paths their lives have taken.
Jonathan Cape, 15 October
Boris Johnson: The Gambler
by Tom Bower
The big game hunter of political biography turns his attention to the man in No 10 – and if it’s as critical as Bower’s Corbyn book then Johnson should be worried.
WH Allen, 15 October
African Europeans: An Untold History
by Olivette Otele
There is already much praise for this account of how Africans shaped Europe’s history, by the UK’s first black female professor of history.
Hurst, 22 October
The Silence
by Don DeLillo
This slim and timely novel is set in 2022 and centres on a catastrophic event that renders the digital world silent.
Picador, 29 October
A Promised Land
by Barack Obama
The first volume of Obama’s presidential memoirs.
Viking, 17 November
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This article appears in the 30 Sep 2020 issue of the New Statesman, Twilight of the Union