He pushed his Red Bull round the visually stunning Yas Marina circuit, brilliantly lit up by floodlights as darkness finally fell on the twilight session, and beat Hamilton's benchmark by 0.141 seconds.

BBC: Sebastian Vettel beats Lewis Hamilton to Abu Dhabi pole

The other main character is Liang Qichao, a leading Chinese intellectual in the twilight of the last imperial dynasty, the Qing, and the chaotic early years after it fell in 1911.

ECONOMIST: The intellectual roots of Asian anti-Westernism

It was recently reported that Barrack, a billionaire, wrote a memo to his employees about an experience he had while taking some personal time on his yacht off the Turkish coast. (Employees love getting these sorts of memos.) Barrack reported that his eye suddenly fell upon, of all things, a copy of the book Twilight.

FORBES: Study: More Money Makes Managers Meaner