STEVE ANDREW enjoys an account of the many communities that flourished independently of and in resistance to the empires of old
Murder most foul – and entertaining – from London to Isis Syria
BLIND DEFENCE (Little Brown, £16.99) is the second book in John Fairfax's series about a convicted murderer who becomes a London barrister and, if anything, it's even better than the first.
This time, William Benson is reunited with instructing solicitor Tess de Vere to defend a hopeless murder case. A young woman fled her life in Dover to escape her bullying boyfriend only to die in a rented room in London, with the boyfriend's DNA all over the place.
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Ben Cowles speaks with IAN ‘TREE’ ROBINSON and ANDY DAVIES, two of the string pullers behind the Manchester Punk Festival, ahead of its 10th year show later this month
The Morning Star sorts the good eggs from the rotten scoundrels of the year
TOMASZ PIERSCIONEK relishes a collection of cartoons that focus on Palestine from the period 1917 to 1948
Two new releases from Burkina Faso and Niger, one from French-based Afro Latin The Bongo Hop, and rare Mexican bootlegs



