Operation Kronstadt Harry Ferguson (Hutchinson, £18.99)

If espionage was dangerous during the Nazi era then it had its severest rival after the Russian Revolution. This was the great game between MI6 and the Bolsheviks and Ferguson's exciting foray into thie murky world in which communism had an uncertain foothold gives an historic strength to the period. The operation of the title focuses on the clandestine adventures of two young Britons, Sir Paul Dukes and Lt Agar, VC. Dukes' role was to penetrate the Lenin terror machine and acquire information that would help the Allies in their military and naval objectives. Meanwhile, Agar embarked upon a secret mission to Finland, coming into conflict with the Russian Baltic fleet. Ferguson maintains a high level of suspense in this little-known story of British agents and their special actions against the Reds.

Vermeer's Hat Timothy Brook (Profile, £18.99)

Dutch painter Vermeer was a man of solemn grace, as his great art shows. Look closely and the world of the 17th century opens up with remarkable clarity through the incidentals of life, reaching beyond his beloved city of Delft. Brook draws us into his paintings to launch us on a voyage of global discovery. The fur hat in Officer and Laughing Girl provides a study of the beaver trade in North America; a porcelain dish in Young Woman Reading a Letter at an Open Window sweeps us along the trade routes to China. Silver and tobacco in Vermeer's paintings provide further glimpses of this age of exploration, when the Dutch challenged for supremacy on the oceans. It is a brilliant theme, this opening of a worldwide window through art, and Brook, a professor of Chinese, provides a tapestry worthy of the master himself.

Centurion Simon Scarrow (Headline, £6.99)

The Roman era has attracted many novelists versed in the artful diplomacy of the Senate and the battles to expand and defend the empire. Scarrow is among the best, specialising in the weaponry and psychology of the legion. His centurions Marco and Cato, familiar to hordes of disciples, are on a dangerous mission to protect the kingdom of Palmyra against a ruthless enemy. The plot may be recognisable, but Scarrow's writing never fails to maintain the high level of dramatic interest originally generated by his Eagle series.