Captain Corelli's Mandolin, by Louis de Bernieres (Vintage, £5.99 in UK)

Set on the apparently idyllic Greek island of Cephallonia, Captain Corelli's Mandolin has been a permanent fixture on the bestseller lists for so long that you've probably read it already. If not, you're in for a surprise, not just on account of the book's subject matter - the occupation of the island during the second World War by Italian and German troops - but by its seriousness of approach. True, there is a love story at its centre, but this is no soppy tale of romance uber alles: the main characters are subtly drawn, and although there is a natural exuberance both in de Bernieres's prose style and in the opera-mad captain of the title, the overwhelming impression is of cultural dislocation, frustration, and the emotional and physical disasters inflicted by political conflict.