Dr Lyman takes the complicated science of neuroimmunology and turns it into an exciting wargame complete with defensive battalions, special forces, reconnaissance ships and friendly fire. While technical and bang up-to-date, the narrative never loses sight of the potential victims, and illnesses both physical and mental. Indeed, The Immune Mind is not so much about biological science or cognitive science but the inseparability of the two and ultimately, what it is to be human.

A thrilling exploration of how our immune system governs our mental health, all interwoven with Dr Lyman’s practical advice on safeguarding your well-being. As someone with depression and dementia in the family, I found every page to contain an observation that was invaluable. This absorbing and beautifully written book changes the way we view health.

It is very common for scientists to specialise in one subject, gradually developing a deep but narrow understanding of their field. In my work developing vaccines against pathogens that have the potential to cause outbreaks and pandemics, I need to work with colleagues from many different disciplines in order to be effective. In this book Dr Lyman makes a fascinating connection that is new to me, delving into interactions between the immune system and the conscious mind. A thoroughly thought-provoking read.

Rarely has the subject of marriage been attended to with such intelligence, breadth of reading and insight, but also with such scrutiny and hope

A comprehensively researched, wry examination of the many dimensions of marriage and how it has evolved

Exploring her own marriage has given Baum a unique vantage point from which to investigate the private intricacies of other people's arrangements . . . Her ability to sit in the midst of those arguments and unpick their various strands makes her work compelling, as does her willingness to self-interrogate

This delightful, acrobatic book is funny, thought-provoking and rigorous at the same time. An effervescent and timely meditation on marriage

Devorah Baum brings her literary understandings, psychoanalytic scholarship and great aplomb to the marriage conundrum. It's very funny too. Who wouldn't want to marry Devorah?

On Marriage is characterized by this kind of agile curiosity . . . Baum holds [marriage] up as a seduction

Because marriage doesn't always bring out the best in us, it makes us wonder what the best in us might be. It is part of the extraordinary wit and wisdom of Baum's remarkable book to show us what kind of romance, and experiment in living, we have wanted marriage to be

Everything you thought you knew about conjugal beds, secrets, feuds, confessions, triangulations and solaces will be pleasurably complicated by Devorah Baum's wryly insightful tell - all regarding the infinite perversity of marriage - including her own, mine, and probably yours

On Marriage is a hugely thought-provoking, witty, warm tour around every significant writer and thinker on love to have emerged since Adam and Eve. Baum is a charming guide to the wisdom of her inspiring judiciously curated cohort

Baum looks at marriage from multiple angles, legal and political, social and narrative, its interminability and its dailiness . . . it can be funny or tragic or both. Baum’s methodology is to look at what is missing – a philosophy of marriage, a clear idea of what this dominant structure is and how it influences lives. Lovely