Veiled Warriors by Christine E Hallett (OUP £20) 4/5 stars 

THIS history of the Allied nurses of the First World War does indeed lift a veil on a band of women who put the wounded and injured first, battled disease, war front hardship as well as ingrained medical prejudice and who played a major role in achieving final victory.

You just have to gasp in admiration at what they achieved in the face of formidable odds and at their dedication and bravery in the most dangerous situations. Theirs was a job well done for the casualties and also for the cause of women in a chauvinistic world. They didn’t get many medals – but, by God, they deserved them.

The Oxford Arabic Dictionary edited by Tressy Arts (OUP £60) 4/5 stars 

MOST people can probably count the number of Arabic words or phrases they know on the fingers of one hand, which is not only a sad reflection on the teaching of foreign languages in Britain, but also a major handicap in understanding the Arab world.

We need Arab language skills more than ever now and this dictionary is a very linguistic powerhouse with more then 130,000 words and phrases and 200,000 translations.

It puts Arabic at the fingertips of the man in the street as well as those who deal in economic, military and even diplomatic affairs and offers a window on an often closed world.

Arabic is only going to become more important in the world and this dictionary is the ideal guide to get with it.

Alexander the Great: A Very Short Introduction by Hugh Bowden (OUP £7.99) 3/5 stars 

ALL too short for any history lover, but Bowden covers all the highlights of Alexander’s career which began at 20 as king of Macedon and ended only 12 years later as the greatest conqueror of the world.

But Alexander was not only a military genius but also a man who brought Greek culture and beliefs to the world, and it is this aspect of his career which Bowden astutely reveals.