Wavell: Soldier And Statesman Victoria Schofield (John Murray, £30) Wavell was the gentleman general of the Second World War, a lover of poetry and a leader who commanded loyalty without possessing the fire of command. With his refined manner, he was liked by everyone except the supreme warlord, Churchill, who had a critical influence over his military career. Wavell's problem was a lack of ruthlessness, Everywhere he went he was linked to disasters at a time when the war was going very badly for the Allies in North Africa, when Rommel burst on the scene like a firestorm, and in the Far East, when the Japanese attacked Malaya and Burma. Later he became Viceroy of India, but even this role was lost to Mountbatten. Many believe he would have done a better job at independence. Humility, it seems, does not win wars yet Wavell's personality managed to shine through all the desperation. Schofield rescues him with an exceptional biography as elegant as the man himself.

American Shogun Robert Harvey (John Murray, £20) oIn all of history, it is unlikely that there are two more disparate characters than the Japanese Emperor Hirohito, who waged the most brutal Pacific battle, and his conqueror, General MacArthur, who represented brash untamed America. Yet the two came together in a magnificent duel of cultures after the war and somehow gave the foundation for modern Japan, assimilating Western moods yet clinging to the refinements of the divine era. Harvey's brilliant analysis of how this titanic clash allowed the nation to recover from the ashes of Hiroshima and find its own soul is required reading for anyone interested in today's economic powerhouse across the seas.

Dogs of God James Reston (Faber and Faber, £20) oThe inquisition might have been set up to rid Spain of the Moors but it came more into its stride when it focused on the Jews. They were given the chance of converting to Christianity or forcibly being sent into exile. Many did so with the shards of the tombstones of their forefathers. It was the time of Columbus, the age of discovery, as well as the fall of Granada. The American historian Reston sweepingly portrays the spiritual anguish in the fiery reign of Ferdinand and Isabella. Over it all presides the fearful priest, Torquemada, master of the torture that terrorised Europe.