The Flavour Thesaurus for feelings: 200 bite-size entries on emotions from the universal to the utterly specific.
Recent research suggests there are only six basic emotions. But if this makes you feel uneasy, suspicious and maybe even a little bereft, The Book of Human Emotion is for you. From anger to zeal, each entertaining and informative alphabetical entry reveals the surprising connections and fascinating facts behind our emotional lives.

Whether you’re in search of the perfect word to sum up that cosy feeling you get from being inside on a cold winter’s night, surrounded by friends and good food (what the Dutch call gezellig) or wondering how nostalgia evolved from a fatal illness to enjoyable self-indulgence , Tiffany Watt Smith covers the globe and draws on history, anthropology, science, art, literature, music and popular culture to find the answers. And that feeling of listless depression you get on a rainy Sunday? It was first defined by the early Christian hermits, who called it accidie.

Each emotion has its own story, part of a vast, rich and varied field, influencing every area of our lives; but however you’re feeling, there’s something here that will tickle your humour, soothe your cares or pique your interest.