Behind the scenes at the Brighton bombing
Sadly, I can’t see it catching on, but one of the notable things about Jonathan Lee’s new novel is that…
The Etonian peer who became an assistant to a Mexican commie
The lefty hereditary peer has few equals as a figure of fun, in life or literature. The late Tony Benn…
The author’s father didn’t want you to read this book. It’s hard to understand why
There were several times when reading A Dog’s Life that I felt as if I’d fallen into a time warp.…
The queen, the cardinal and the greatest con France ever saw
You usually know where you are with a book that promises the story ‘would violate the laws of plausibility’ if…
There's so much mystery around Charles Portis that we're not even clear whether he’s alive
The American writer, Charles Portis, has had what some novelists — the more purist ones — might regard as an…
Hillary, Obama, Osama — and a hapless Bill
The actor David Niven was once badgered by the American columnist William F. Buckley to introduce him to Marc Chagall,…
Why are Scandinavians so happy when they should be so sad?
As I sit here in my Sarah Lund Fair Isle sweater, polishing my boxed sets of Borgen and nibbling on…
Simon Winchester slides off the map
This book begins with Simon Winchester becoming a US citizen two years ago: ‘I swore a solemn oath before a…
Curtains for kitty! How to care for cats — and how to kill them
The New Yorker has always had a peculiar affinity with cats, perhaps because they have a lot in common —…
Queen Victoria, by Matthew Dennison - review
When Prince Albert died in 1861, aged 42, Queen Victoria, after briefly losing the use of her legs, ordered that…
Move Along, Please, by Mark Mason - review
Mrs Thatcher was widely believed to have said that ‘any man over the age of 26 who finds himself on…
Magic, by Ricky Jay - review
People, they say, want different things from a book over the summer than they do the rest of the year.…
