Duende: A Journey in Search of Flamenco
by Jason Webster (Doubleday, £12.99).

Astonishing account of a young man's coming of age in the arms of a flamenco dancer, his pursuit by her jealous husband and lover (who happens to be Webster's guitar teacher) and descent into the inferno of life as a gypsy, strung out on coke and car theft.

The Dark Heart of Italy
by Tobias Jones (Faber, £14.99)

Excellent critique of Berlusconi's expansion into every area of Italian life and the associated evils of the mafia and fascism. The man's spreading tentacles, already grasping banks, mobile phone companies, estate agencies, television stations and football teams, will no doubt do their best to prevent publication of this book in his native country.

Ghost Riders: In Search of American Nomads
by Richard Grant (Little, Brown, £16.99).

Entertaining tale of folk on the move, both in the past and present, including cowboys, explorers, Native Americans, modern survivalists and, riding the freeway in their people carriers, sun-seeking pensioners.

The Voyage of The Catalpa
by Peter F Stevens (Weidenfeld, £14.99)

The story of an American ship's mission to pick up six escaped Irish republican prisoners from the Australian coast in 1875. The British navy chases them all the way. So does the weather.

The Ice: A Journey to Antarctica
by Stephen J Pyne (Weidenfeld, £16.99).

Travel, science and cultural history. Simon Schama acclaims it as a "masterpiece". Read it alongside Francis Spufford's I May Be Some Time: Ice And The English Imagination, published in 1997, and you'll know all there is to know.