Stalin’s Commandos by Alexander Gogun
During the bloody onslaught of Nazi forces during the Second World War, partisan forces in Ukraine, numbering about 150,000, fought a war of disruption against them. Based on original sources in Ukraine and Russia, this is a must-read for Eastern Front buffs. (IB Tauris, July 30)
Ralph Steadman’s Nextinction by Ralph Steadman and Ceri Levy
Steadman (renowned for his illustration work with Hunter S Thompson) reunites with writer Levy to profile 192 endangered birds, such as the Sumatran ground cuckoo. Some of the proceeds will go to BirdLife International. (Bloomsbury, July 16)
Big Science by Michael Hiltzik
From the 1930s, science went “big” – it built the bombs that helped end the Second World War and contributed to putting a man on the Moon. This is the story of how one scientist, Ernest Lawrence, started it all, by devising the cyclotron, a new type of particle accelerator. (Simon & Schuster, July 1)
The Mark and the Void by Paul Murray
Claude Martingale works in a bank as the financial system is about to implode. He then meets an author, Paul, who wants to write about his disillusioned life. But Paul is not what he claims to be. Much anticipated follow-up to Skippy Dies, which made the Man Booker longlist. (Hamish Hamilton, July 16)
The Last Pilot by Benjamin Johncock
Jim Harrison, a United States Air Force test pilot, is given the chance to become one of the world’s first astronauts. But at what cost to his personal life? Set against the backdrop of the Cold War and 1960s Space Race, the book has received rave reviews and Johncock is being compared to Cormac McCarthy. (Myriad Editions, July 9)
The Quality of Silence by Rosamund Lupton
Yasmin and her 10-year-old deaf daughter fly into Fairbanks with an ultimatum for her documentary-maker husband: come home or the marriage is over. But when they arrive, a police officer claims Matt is dead. Yasmin sets out across the frozen wilderness to find him, but is soon followed. Thriller set in Alaska. (Little Brown, July 2)
