Your summer reading list: five of the best non-fiction reads of 2026 so far, according to our experts

By Magnus Marsden, Professor of Social Anthropology, University of Sussex
Barry Langford, Professor of Film Studies, Royal Holloway, University of London
Dominic O'Key, Teaching Associate, Faculty of English, University of Cambridge
Glenn Fosbraey, Associate Dean of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Winchester
Matei Candea, Professor of Social Anthropology, University of Cambridge

Five books that span time and place, from the music scene in 80s London to the philosophical scene of Ancient Rome.

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