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The Yiddish Policeman’s Union
This book by the American author Michael Chabon imagines that the new state of Israel collapses and that Alaska is designated as a temporary safe haven for the Jews in 1948. The story is written in the style of a noir thriller and is both a whodunit and an exploration of what it means to be in exile.

The Yiddish Policeman’s Union by Michael Chabon is published by Fourth Estate.

The Drowsy Chaperone
The Drowsy Chaperone stars Elaine Paige in an affectionate pastiche of the
escapist musicals of the 1920s.

The Royal Festival Hall
The Royal Festival Hall re-opened to the public on Friday 8th June after a multi-million pound re-furbishment with the aim of upgrading all its facilities and improving its famously bad acoustics. To mark the occasion the South Bank are presenting a weekend of free music, dance, film and visual arts starting at dusk on Friday June 8, when massed choirs arrive by candlelit river barge and finishing at dusk on Sunday night.

Guest Choice – The Foundling Museum tokens
Amanda Vickery nominates as this week’s guest choice a case of tokens in the Foundling Museum which record women's futile hopes as they gave up their infants in the 18th century. With each child a token was left, while the mother kept a counterpart, against the possiblity of reunion. Mothers gave up buttons, keys, coral necklace, inscribed coins, ribbon, little locks, precious stones, drawings and so on. These are heart-breaking souvenirs of maternal anguish, desperation and the lingering hope of getting their babies back in the end.

Oceans Thirteen
George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Andy Garcia and Al Pacino star in the new sequel to Ocean's Eleven and Ocean's Twelve. Their latest heist targets a casino and involves them attempting to create a natural disaster.