Our top book picks this week: war games with Russia and the cosmopolitan cool of Monte Carlo

Making Monte Carlo by Mark Braude

Everyone is familiar with Monte Carlo as the playground of the rich. But how did it get to be this way? This book charts the history of how the city developed from the first casino resort in the 19th century to the epitome of cosmopolitan cool. (Simon and Schuster, April 12)

2017 War With Russia by Richard Shirreff

A retired Nato commander turns his hand to fiction to argue that following the war in Georgia, the annexation of Crimea and ongoing violence in Ukraine, Vladimir Putin’s Russia is intent on invading the Baltics and must be checked. The writings are based on real life war gaming of future conflicts. (Coronet, May 19)

This Must Be the Place by Maggie O’Farrell

Daniel Sullivan has children he never sees, a father he hates, and a reclusive wife. But on his way back to visit his ageing father, his mind returns to a woman he knew decades ago and a mystery he is desperate to solve. O’Farrell is a winner of the Costa Novel Award. (Tinder Press, May 17)

Reputations by Juan Gabriel Vásquez

Javier Mallarino is Colombia’s famed political cartoonist who gave up dreaming of a career painting to draw caricatures. But during a public celebration of his career in Bogota, Mallarino is confronted by a woman whose allegations threaten to destroy his reputation. Translated by Anne McLean. (Bloomsbury, May 19)

The Euro by Joseph Stiglitz

Can the Euro be saved? Here, the economist argues that Europe’s stagnation and bleak outlook result from a single currency project that was flawed from the start. He proposes two alternatives that could put the block on the road to recovery. (Allen Lane, May 31)

Kick by Paula Byrne

When Joe Kennedy was named US ambassador to Britain in 1938, his daughter Kathleen, or Kick, charmed the British public. This is the story of JFK’s forgotten sister who died in a plane crash at 28. Byrne is the author of The Real Jane Austen. (William Collins, May 19)