STEVEN ANDREW is moved beyond words by a historical account of mining in Britain made from the words of the miners themselves

A Short History of British Architecture - from Stonehenge to the Shard
Simon Jenkins, Penguin Viking, £26.99
SIMON JENKINS is one of our last remaining journalists of the old school – he writes with passion as well as compassion, perceptively and rationally, in a style that combines articulateness, erudition and accessibility.
Jenkins has been deputy chair of English Heritage and today is chair of the National Trust. Although he is a conservative with a small “c” and despises many of those with a capital “C”, his commentaries are always provocative and apposite. This, his latest book, will enlighten and entertain, as it will undoubtedly annoy some of our more extremist architectural iconoclasts.

JOHN GREEN recommends a German comedy that celebrates the old GDR values of solidarity, community and a society not dominated by consumerism

JOHN GREEN welcomes an insider account of the achievements and failures of the transition to democracy in Portugal

Mountains of research show that hardcore material harms children, yet there are still no simple measures in place

Peter Mitchell's photography reveals a poetic relationship with Leeds