Our top book picks this week: inside the Jamaica sprint factory that produced Usain Bolt and much more

The Bolt Supremacy by Richard Moore

The reigning 100-metre men and women’s Olympic champions are Jamaicans. Here Moore talks to coaches, anti-doping agencies and athletes dreaming of becoming the next Usain Bolt to find out why a small Caribbean island has had such sprinting success. (Yellow Jersey, July 23)

The Life and Death of Sophie Stark by Anna North

Enigmatic and infuriating, Sophie Stark is one of the most gifted film directors of her generation. But her genius has come at a troubling cost – to her husband, the brother she left behind and her obsession with one actress. Told from the perspective of six of her friends. (Weidenfeld and Nicolson, July 1)

A Whole Life by Robert Seethaler

Andreas is a stoic man who has lived in the Austrian Alps all his life. He leaves to fight in the Second World War, and when he returns, modernity is intruding on his safe haven. This book about trying to find solitude, and the simple life has already sold tens of thousands of copies in Germany. (Picador, July 16)

Us Conductors by Sean Michaels

Lev Termen was a brilliant young Russian scientist who invented the theremin and was dispatched to America to infiltrate the heart of capitalism. But he falls in love with an American woman, Clara, is forced back to Stalin’s Soviet Union and banished to a gulag. Only his dreams of Clara keep him alive. This is based on a true story. (Bloomsbury, July 16)

Operation Thunderbolt by Saul David

In 1972, an Air France jet from Tel Aviv to Paris was hijacked by German and Palestinian militants. It was then flown to Uganda, under the despotic rule of Idi Amin. This tells the story of how the plane was taken over and the subsequent mission to free the hostages. (Hodder, July 2)

The Power Broker by Robert A Caro

Robert Moses reshaped New York through his construction projects, in particular his championing of roads led to the creation of huge suburbs, such as Long Island. This is a new edition of the 1974 classic that looks at the power of a man never elected to public office. (Bodley Head, July 2)