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The bear who liked a beer! Not forgetting a constipated llama, the giraffes who took a

Isobel Charman's account of how London Zoo was founded in the 19th century is a very personal one, told through the eyes of seven of the people involved. First up is Sir Stamford Raffles, who, in 1824, returns to Britain from his role with the East India Company a broken man: four of his five children have died. The one thing keeping him going is the dream of founding a menagerie in London. His wife, Sophia, encourages this, knowing the pleasure Raffles got from their collection of animals in the East. The couple share 'joyful memories of their children playing with the young tigers in the nursery... how they had all traipsed through the aviary, dodging flapping wings and bullets of excrement'.

Craig Murray was sacked as British Ambassador to Uzbekistan in 2004. He had revealed that Britain was receiving information gained from victims of the barbaric tortures inflicted by the Uzbek state

To celebrate the end of World War II, Diana's aunt Joyce had paid for the two young women to travel to Florence for two weeks.

My Life In Fashion includes an extremely rare interview in which Bardot tells us how she put her stamp on style, and the glamorous photographs that accompany it are as show-stopping as ever.

Incredibly, one British study showed that almost a fifth of parents had misspelled their child's name on the birth register. Keira Knightley, for example, should have been Kiera.

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Guinness heir Tara Browne’s death inspired one of the Beatles’ greatest ever hits 

Tara Browne must be one of the few people who is more famous for dying than he ever was in life. In December 1966, a Lotus Elan driven at speed by Browne crashed into another car in South Kensington. Two hours later, he died of his injuries, aged just 21. John Lennon read about his death and wrote A Day In The Life, the climax of what's generally reckoned to be The Beatles' masterpiece, Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.

'Taking photos of attractive people doing attractive things in attractive places' was how Slim Aarons described his work and this extraordinary book, Women, reflects that perfectly.

In New York in the early summer of 1893, the bodies of dead cats began turning up all over Brooklyn. The area already had a reputation for being overrun with 'noisy tramp cats'.

According to this book by German author Norman Ohler, the whole of the Third Reich was awash with narcotics. The apt title of Blitzed sums up how drugged up he believes the nation was.

Simon Garfield, author of Timekeepers, is fascinated by the way our lives are dominated by time. We never seem to have enough.

Mike Massimino seems a nice bloke, smiley, calm and straightforward, as this memoir shows him to be. His book isn't up there with the fairies, it's completely down to earth - and that's a recommendation.

Bainbridge's biographer, Brendan King, was her editorial assistant for 23 years and has set himself the task to be a detective - sifting through her letters and journals.

If you love poetry, you should read this. But if you think poetry is too hard, too boring, too old-school, then you must read it. It might just change the way you see the world.

Who better to write a book on happiness than a professional illusionist like Derren Brown? We all know - don't we? - that the quest for happiness, as an end in itself, is a chimera.

What better way to showcase Man's Best Friend than with a lovely collection of quotes and photographs all squished together in this adorable book? Sure to cheer up those with a canine crush.

The spy who loved the woman he never knew: A son's extraordinary search for his mother

John de St Jorre's earliest memory is of a young, blonde woman in a half-open blouse, standing in a large, tile-floored room as snow fell outside on Thirties London. The memory was a happy one, and de St Jorre grew up hoping that the 'familiar' blonde was his mother, although he had no further recollection of her.

Tim Marshall's tour of the world's flags, their histories and meanings, is a sobering lesson in just how silly we human beings can get.

Ben Macintyre's book details who the SAS are and where they came from. It is the first ever fully authorised history of SAS that covers its secret WWII activities.

After comedian Tommy Cooper died journalist John McEntee charmed his way into his widow's home, where he sat with her for two or three hours, the account of which is revealed in his memoir.

The Secret Library is the first Christmas book Markus Berkman has bought this year but, he says, 'it's a cracker.' Author Oliver Tearle seeks to answer questions you hadn't even thought to ask.

Jenni Murray's book records the lives of 21 significant women in Britain. They not only served the advance of female equality but made significant discoveries or changes.

Look through the lens of Inge Morath, one of the finest photojournalists of a generation, and the last wife of Arthur Miller. Her shots have captured the likes of Audrey Hepburn and Gloria Vanderbilt.

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Brave boys the fat man branded liars: How Cyril Smith's victims were ignored when they

All this week, Labour MP Simon Danczuk is laying bare how the Establishment, the Liberal Party, the police and even MI5 covered up the industrial-scale child abuse of 29-stone Rochdale MP Cyril Smith. Today, how his victims were ignored and betrayed when they tried to expose their suffering.

Different life: Vicky Pryce is seen chatting with inmates and a prison officer at East Sutton Park Prison, which she describes at a 'real joy' after serving four days at Holloway

In the finale of her unique inside story, Vicky Pryce, the wife of disgraced ex-minister Chris Huhne, describes life at open prison East Sutton Park.

Mary Berry - photoshoot for one of her first cookery book with helpers Annabel and William.

In the second extract from her autobiography, published exclusively in the Mail today, Mary Berry describes the sudden death of the son she doted on, pictured left.

Eric and Ernie were together virtually all day every day because of work; so when they became successful, they had an unspoken agreement that they wouldn't socialise with one another

In his compelling new biography, Gary Morecambe talks about his father's relationship with Ernie Wise and how he continued to make them laugh even up until the end.

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After meeting Oona O'Neill when she was just 17 years old, the star was accused of being a communist, after allegedly telling guests at a banquet 'the Russian purges' were a 'wonderful thing'.

Jerry and Lucian had never quite bonded. While she was sitting for him, she gave him cashmere jerseys, which he loathed. But worse, in his eyes, she too had a habit of being late

Jerry and Lucian had never quite bonded. While sitting for him she gave him cashmere jerseys, which he loathed. But worse, she had a habit of being late.

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In an extract from his explosive memoirs, Power Trip, Damian McBride reveals how the former Chancellor survived by the skin of his teeth after credit crunch bungle.

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