WRITER’S READS

Henry Mance is chief features writer at the Financial Times. His debut book, How to Love Animals, is out now

Hope in the Dark by Rebecca Solnit (2004) Solnit expanded my sense of what writing could be. She mixes the personal, the political and the metaphorical like no-one else.

The Invention of Nature The Adventures of Alexander von Humboldt by Andrea Wulf (2015) Humboldt was restless, radical, amusing. Charles Darwin called him the ‘greatest a stunning biography of a stunning life. I after Humboldt.

Animal Liberation by Peter Singer (1975) Perhaps the most influential book on animal cruelty ever written. Singer's commitment to clear logic and ethical living shine through.

Sapiens A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari (2011) few pages about industrial farming.

Man and the Natural World Changing Attitudes in England 1500–1800 by Keith Thomas (1983) The story of how England gradually peeled back respect for animals and nature, told in glorious will one day seem implausible.

The Most of Nora Ephron by Nora Ephron (2013) In a world where you can be anything, be kind and funny. Ephron, scriptwriter of When Harry Met Sally, was both.

The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman (2010) The best novel that I've read about journalism, my flawed and joyous trade.

Working by Robert Caro (2019) biographies, I found inspiration instead in this short, masterful explanation of his craft (writing