FRAGILE CARGO (PENGUIN, SEPTEMBER 1)

It goes without saying that armies and fragile objects don't mix. So what happens when the Forbidden City's priceless treasures come up against the oncoming storm of Japan's invasion of China in the 1930s? BBC foreign correspondent Adam Brookes tells of the daring efforts of the curators of the then newly established Palace Museum as they try to hide over a million artifacts from looters and explosives, and save them for future generations. Much has been written in English about the fate of Europe's artistic treasures during the Second World War, but very little on similar efforts going on at the same time around the other side of the world.