Books
An epic journey (in Hobson-Jobsonese) through the first Opium War to the British seizure of Hong Kong
T.H. White complained that the characters in Walter Scott’s historical novels talked ‘like imitation warming pans’: those in Amitav Ghosh’s…
Books & arts
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Winning the Cold War, losing the culture wars
On the 70th anniversary of Victory in Europe day, many Eastern Europeans boycotted celebrations in Moscow, marking the day with…
Happy Retirement
Retired persons are not necessarily retiring or withdrawn although we are entitled to feel tired and/or rejuvenated by our superannuated…
Happy Retirement
Retired persons are not necessarily retiring or withdrawn although we are entitled to feel tired and/or rejuvenated by our superannuated…
The beginning of the end
Both German and Allied troops could be accused of war crimes in the struggle for the Ardennes. It’s a tragic and gruesome history, involving heavy casualties — but flashes of black humour make it bearable, says Clare Mulley
Digesting all the facts — without getting bogged down
Funnily enough, after my editor sent me these three books to read, my guts started playing up. Suddenly, food seemed…
Shakespeare’s stagecraft — and his greatest players
How many books are there about Shakespeare? A study published in the 1970s claimed a figure of 11,000, and today…
How to kill a hippo, cure seasickness, get rid of fleas? Our ancestors had some wild ideas ...
As Dear Mary so wittily demonstrates, our need for advice is perennial. But fashions change. Mary would probably take issue…
Art has ceased to be beautiful or interesting — but we are more obsequious than ever to artists
Two ambitious volumes of interviews with artists have just been published. They are similar, but different. The first is by…
The sad demise of the amateur sleuth: it’s all the fault of better policing
‘The crime novel,’ said Bertolt Brecht, ‘like the world itself, is ruled by the English.’ He was thinking of the…
Man of destiny: Napoleon was always convinced he was the chosen one
It is almost inconceivable that there could be a more densely detailed book about Napoleon than this — 800 crowded…
A singer’s joys and woes: like her heroine Dusty Springfield, Tracey Thorn has trouble coming to terms with her beautiful voice
Look up Tracey Thorn’s live performances with Everything But The Girl or Massive Attack on You Tube and you’ll find…
If we recreate the mammoth, it will be 99.999 per cent white elephant
Years ago, in an ill-conceived attempt to break into natural history radio, I borrowed a nearly dead car from a…
Museum curators and art forgers are two of a kind: they’re both vain and self-deluded
Louis the Decorator and his chums in the antiques trade use the word ‘airport’ adjectivally and disparagingly. It signifies industrially…
An innocent abroad defies South Africa’s insane colour code
At the eye of apartheid South Africa’s storm of insanities was a mania for categorisation. Everything belonged in its place,…
The New Yorker’s grammar rules (and how to break them)
‘I had had a fantasy for years about owning a dairy farm,’ says Mary Norris, as she considers her career…
Lacan Appeals to the Patient
Since you remain reluctant, let us imagine that one’s selfhood is a work of art — a maquette in clay,…
The poor drummer is music’s goalkeeper — you only notice him if he screws up
Tony Barrell can’t play the drums, but he’s in awe of those who can. ‘A band without a drummer is…
A choice of first novels: the war in Bosnia, a modern Irish council estate and the private life of Friedrich Engels
As all writers know to their cost, first novels are never really first novels. They make their appearance after countless…
The Best View in England
that’s what she said. Of course, I begin to find fault: a shrub partly obscures the view, there’s a glint…
Books and arts
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Crank Case
Paul Heywood-Smith QC has written a weak case for Palestine. A much stronger book was there to be written, but…
Lacan Appeals to the Patient
Since you remain reluctant, let us imagine that one’s selfhood is a work of art — a maquette in clay,…
The Best View in England
that’s what she said. Of course, I begin to find fault: a shrub partly obscures the view, there’s a glint…
