History is written by the victors. It's a cliche, but a reliable one - except in the case of the Spanish Civil War. Many believe - wrongly, as it turns out - that under Franco's dictatorship, nothing truthful or imaginatively worthwhile could be said or written or created. This book examines the tenet of our cultural identity: how we remember.

What on earth could have induced Mr Anstruther to fall in love with Fraulein Schmidt? He is an eligible English bachelor from a good family with great expectations; she is the plain, poor, 'spinster' daughter of a German scholar. But Rose-Marie Schmidt is also funny, intelligent, brave and gifted with an irrepressible talent for happiness.

Frederick II of Prussia attempted to escape his authoritarian father as a boy, but went on to become one of history's greatest rulers. He loved the flute, and devoted hours of study to the arts and French literature, forming a long-lasting friendship with Voltaire. This title deals with these contradictions and achievements of Frederick.

Technology companies are making millions from content created and funded by others, reducing the value of culture in the process. How did the media industry lose control over its destiny? What are the consequences? And are we headed for cultural meltdown if the media can't stop the free ride? This title deals with these questions.

In this book of breathtaking imaginary leaps that conjure dystopias and magical islands, Margaret Atwood holds a mirror up to our own world. The reflection we are faced with, of men and women in prisons literal and metaphorical, is frightening, but it is also a call to arms to speak and to act to preserve our freedom while we still can.

Charles Smithson, a respectable engaged man, meets Sarah Woodruff as she stands on the Cobb at Lyme Regis, staring out to sea. Charles falls in love, but Sarah is a disgraced woman, and their romance will defy all the stifling conventions of the Victorian age.

The day Idgie Threadgoode and Ruth Jamison opened the Whistle Stop Cafe, the town took a turn for the better. It was the Depression and that cafe was a home from home for many of us. Ruth was just the sweetest girl you ever met. And Idgie? She was a character, all right. But how anybody could have thought she murdered that man is beyond me.

Rose Tremain looks at two unlikely lifelong friendships, which - though tested - prove unbreakable.A series of short books by the world's greatest writers on the experiences that make us humanAlso in the Vintage Minis series:Love by Jeanette WintersonLanguage by Xiaolu GuoDesire by Haruki MurakamiFreedom by Margaret Atwood