The Independent: best books of 2008

Britain's Independent asked its "critics and favourite writers [to] pick the fiction and non-fiction that will stand the test of time."

A sample of the findings:

Christopher Fowler

The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga (Atlantic), an assured first novel and Man Booker winner, was rightly acclaimed. It's about an India that can't provide sanitation or discipline, yet is filled with entrepreneurs.

In Churchill's Wizards by Nicholas Rankin (Faber), the truth is out: we won the war through bluff, trickery, turning the road-signs around, hiding large objects and dressing up. It's a true account of wartime deceit that's very English.

Don't be put off by the fact that Malcolm Gladwell is a global phenomenon. Outliers: The Story of Success (Allen Lane), an encapsulation of his populist thinking, goes only part of the way toward explaining why some people are so successful, but it's a great read.

Read the complete feature.

Related:

• The Page 69 Test: Christopher Fowler's The Victoria Vanishes.
• The Page 69 Test: Aravind Adiga's The White Tiger.

--Marshal Zeringue