Daniel Kehlmann’s 'Africa' recounts the Berlin Congo Conference of 1884–85 and holds up a bitterly comic mirror to our present day. Yet this satire on the powerful figures of that era also reveals the limitations of its narrative.

In "Die Last der Sonne", Matthias Häussler describes the wars waged by the Ovaherero and Nama against German colonial rule in Namibia – self-assured Africans come up against racist contempt for humanity.

Sugar from sour apple rings stuck to her fingers: Ruth Maria Thomas’s "Die zweitgrößte Liebe" tells the story of Michelle, of counting and of class – in a voice more original than that of Didier Eribon or Édouard Louis.

The Conflict Between Religion and Love in Bassam Shams Al-Deen's "Hafwah", a Novel About Yemen's Jews

Tash Aws’s masterfully crafted novel "The South" tells the story of Jay, 16, who spends his holiday on his family’s farm in Malaysia. What begins as a coming-of-age story ultimately departs deliberately from that genre.

In “Ninan – Tiohtiá:ke, Montreal,” Michel Jean tells the story of an outcast homeless man’s arduous journey back into society, and shows how the role of those who trust you unconditionally is so crucial

Hamza Abu Howidy, a Palestinian, is committed to peace between Israel and Palestine. His book "Muscheln am Strand von Gaza" (Shells on the beach in Gaza) describes his life under Hamas’s reign of terror.

Donica Merhazion was born in 1979 in a prison in Addis Ababa. In "Born at the End of the World", she tells the story of her parents and of Asmara – from the open-minded city of the 1960s to the terror of the military junta beginning in 1974.

In "Schattenleben" (Shadow Life), Lisa Frühbeis and Jonas Seufert give four undocumented people a face and a name – names they are not actually allowed to have.

Like Alexander the Great, the U.S. president wanted to sever the Gordian knot of power dynamics in the Middle East. His sword was not sharp enough. Vali Nasr’s "Iran’s Grand Strategy" explains the background.

Set against the backdrop of a neonatal intensive care unit, dating apps, and the threat of war, Leh-Wei Liao’s 'Glaszeit' (The Age of Glass) tells the story of bodies and life paths that defy their supposed identities