Books
Will there ever be another cricket captain like Richie Benaud?
The thrilling fourth Test of 1961 at Old Trafford showed Benaud at his enigmatic best, in sharp contrast to his English counterpart, the uninspiring Peter May
The greatest British pop singer who never made a hit single
The musician known as Lawrence has spent four decades chasing fame, and the quest itself has made him a superstar – albeit at street level
Six politicians who shaped modern Britain
The members of Vernon Bogdanor’s select gathering may not always have succeeded in their aims, but by sticking their heads above the parapet they made the political weather
Falsifying history can only increase racial tension
Frank Furedi argues that historic memory is the key to the identity of any coherent community, and that attacking it undermines a population’s solidarity
An accidental spy: Gabriel’s Moon, by William Boyd, reviewed
Having chanced to interview the Congolese politician Patrice Lumumba shortly before his assassination, a travel writer finds himself targeted by British Intelligence
Rather in the lurch: Small Bomb at Dimperley, by Lissa Evans, reviewed
In 1945, a dilapidated Tudor manor risks being demolished – unless an impoverished evacuee with a gift for organisation can galvanise its despairing owner
India radiates kindly light across the East
William Dalrymple describes how, from the 3rd century BC to 1200 AD, India illuminated the rest of Asia with its philosophies and artistic forms through unforced cultural conquest
The trivial details about royalty are what really fascinate us
Craig Brown’s focus on specifics that other biographers would consider beneath them brings rich rewards
The song of the bearded seal and other marvels
Amorina Kingdon explores the extraordinary range of sounds beneath the sea, from the fluting calls of the larger mammals to the hums and moans of fish
A romantic obsession: Precipice, by Robert Harris, reviewed
In the build-up to the Great War another drama unfolds, as the Prime Minister H.H. Asquith is seen to be distracted from politics by his infatuation with the beautiful Venetia Stanley
More curious canine incidents: Dogs and Monsters, by Mark Haddon, reviewed
Mesmerising accounts of dogs feature in these latest stories, including Actaeon’s tragic hounds, St Antony’s comforting mutt and Laika, the husky hurled into space
A choice of thrillers for end of summer escapism
Charlotte Philby’s appropriately titled The End of Summer skilfully explores the strains of a double life. Also reviewed: Ajay Close, Charlotte Vassell and Giuseppe Miale di Mauro
How weird was Oliver Cromwell?
The pious people’s champion was not only a sadist and ruthless self-promoter; he could also indulge in infantile horseplay during the pressurised period leading up to the regicide
Can W.H. Auden be called a war poet?
Though Auden maintained that the Great War had little effect on him, its catastrophe haunts his early poetry and shaped his anxiety about what it meant to be English
Two young men in flight: Partita and A Winter in Zürau, by Gabriel Josipovici reviewed
Kafka, spitting blood, escapes Prague to join his sister in Bohemia, and a fictional lover flees the wrath of an outraged husband in Josipovici’s delightful two-in-one trick
Iris Apfel’s talent to amaze
Instantly recognisable with her cascades of necklaces and startling colours (‘pastels make me nervous’), the interior decorator would achieve real fame with a Met exhibition in 2005
Celebrating Sequoyah and his Cherokee alphabet
The writing system the Native American devised for his people was soon followed by a printing press, a newspaper and a far higher literacy rate than that of their oppressors
Introducing Tchaikovsky the merry scamp
Rescuing the composer from his tortured image, Simon Morrison presents him as a sort of Till Eulenspiegel character, laughing and pranking his way through life
Saved from certain death at Auschwitz – by playing the cello
Exploring the relationship between the cello and its player, Kate Kennedy describes how Anita Lasker-Wallfisch’s musical gift enabled her to survive not just one but two Nazi death camps
The juicy history of the apple
Greeks, Romans, Norse and Celts all rooted their fertility myths in the apple – and through its association with the Garden of Eden it came to symbolise irresistible temptation
The enduring charisma of Brazil’s working-class president
With his dedication to the labouring poor, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is seen as both the humblest of politicians and his country’s saviour – perhaps even endowed with miraculous qualities
Is it wrong to try to ‘cure’ autism?
Do autistic individuals not feel empathy? What is the right treatment for an autistic child? These are just some of the questions discussed in Virginia Bovell’s passionate, informative memoir
Tales with a twist: Safe Enough and Other Stories, by Lee Child, reviewed
Child has fun with the short story form, shooting from the hip. Sometimes the bad get their comeuppance, sometimes they don’t – but the good are rarely rewarded or even recognised
How could Hitler have had so many willing henchmen?
Richard J. Evans tackles one of the Third Reich’s great mysteries. Why did so many apparently ‘normal’ Germans end up as perpetrators of mass atrocities?
Her weird name was the least of Moon Unit Zappa’s problems
Frank and Gail Zappa’s eldest child describes how the endless battles between her manipulative mother and misogynist father in the 1970s blight the family to this day
