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Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
Sport
by simon kuper
The Warrior: Rafael Nadal and His Kingdom of Clay by Christopher Clarey (John Murray/Grand Central)
A veteran American tennis writer offers a close-up view of the freshly retired Spanish genius. The FT’s Raphael Abraham called the biography “affectionate and insightful”, with “rich digressions into tennis history”, including a visit to the factory that produces the clay of the French Open courts where Nadal triumphed 14 times.
Verona Campione: The Miracle of 85 by Richard Hough (Pitch Publishing)
A British writer living in Verona reconstructs the season 40 years ago when the town’s football club somehow slew the giants to become champions of Italy. Straying well beyond Verona, Hough evokes the many colourful personalities who populated the Italian league in an era when it was the best on Earth.
Death of a Racehorse: An American Story by Katie Bo Lillis (Simon & Schuster)
A CNN reporter who grew up in the world of thoroughbred racing exposes the sport’s underside: the doping, overworking and damaging breeding practices that have contributed to the deaths of many racehorses in the US. This deeply reported account is written with a mix of love, horror and sensitivity to racing’s class divides.
Health and Wellness
by Anjana Ahuja
The Age of Diagnosis: Sickness, Health and Why Medicine Has Gone Too Far by Suzanne O’Sullivan (Hodder/Thesis)
The neurologist takes eloquent aim at a medical culture that, although well intentioned, is too quick to assign clinical labels to aspects of the human condition. The rise in diagnoses of ADHD and autism, she points out, have not produced healthier, happier children; increasingly sensitive cancer screening does not always seem to benefit patients. A brave and compassionate book.
Summer Books 2025
All this week, FT writers and critics share their favourites. Some highlights are:
Monday: Business by Andrew Hill
Tuesday: Environment by Pilita Clark
Wednesday: Economics by Martin Wolf
Thursday: Fiction by Maria Crawford
Friday: Politics by Gideon Rachman
Saturday: Critics’ picks
Everything Is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection by John Green (Ebury Press)
A gripping scientific and social history of a disease thought to have killed one in seven people who have ever lived. Green, a YA author better known for The Fault in Our Stars and whose great-uncle died of the disease aged 29, wonders why we can travel into space but not save those we love from suffering. He is now a TB campaigner.
No More Tears: The Dark Secrets of Johnson & Johnson by Gardiner Harris (Random House)
A savage takedown of one of the world’s most trusted companies, currently facing a class-action lawsuit from UK consumers over talcum powder. Harris, a veteran US health reporter, brings the receipts as he takes us beyond talc into a wider world of alleged deceptive marketing, concealed data and profit-chasing at the expense of patients.
Tell us what you think
Will you be taking any of these books on your summer holiday this year? Which ones? And what titles have we missed? Let us know in the comments below
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