Archive for Books
Opinion: Adonis’s complaint – Ashdown was not mind-numbingly stupid with the memory span of a goldfish
Andrew Adonis’s account of the days after the public voted in a hung Parliament in 2010 have already received a rightful savaging by Andrew Stunell. Given that we already know the Mandelson/Balls preparation for coalition talks with the Liberal Democrats was a quick cup of tea, you might think that not even Andrew Adonis’s account [...]
The Green Book: New Directions for Liberals in Government
The contents pages of this book are highly revealing. A quick flick through the chapter titles shows that, as indeed the blurb on the back promises, this is a book about how green policies can foster economic growth: “The Green Book argues cogently that a low-carbon economy and environmental investments are the best way to [...]
Fibber in the Heat: Following England in India – A Blagger’s Tale by Miles Jupp
The set-up for this book – a skilled comedian pretends to be a journalist in order to follow a cricket tour in India – could lend itself to one of several different sorts of tales: a comedy autobiography, a light-hearted cricket account or an amusing travelogue. It is both the book’s strength and its weakness [...]
One in the Eye for Harold: Why everything you thought you knew about history is wrong
Phil Mason’s book is stuffed full of Lots of bite-sized chunks of myth busting, covering the sorts of topics even people not really interested in history are likely to have heard of, such as how Harold didn’t actually get shot in the eye with an arrow at Hastings and how there was a very important but [...]
The Alamut Ambush: another great Anthony Price novel now available as an audio book
The Alamut Ambush is one of the early volumes in Anthony Price’s series of espionage thrillers featuring David Audley. Usually in such series the books are written from the perspective of either a main character or a regular trusted sidekick (think Doctor Watson). However, in various books in the series, Price picks different characters to [...]
Two authors, two interesting things discovered at the weekend
Courtesy of the British Library’s crime fiction exhibition: Someone I never knew was an author A really quite radical change to the draft of p.1 of Antonia Fraser’s Quiet as a Nun
Commando: Winning World War 2 behind enemy lines by James Owen
James Owen’s account of the Commandos is one of affectionate myth-busting. The Commandos in this book are frequently failing, often disorganised and under-equipped, often of dubious military value – and almost always brave, dedicated and impressive. The mistakes and blunders as new ways of fighting were learnt do not take away from the incredible feats [...]
Dreadnought: Britain, Germany and the Coming of the Great War
For the non-specialist new to this period of history, Robert Massie’s Dreadnought: Britain, Germany and the Coming of the Great War is a thorough and entertaining read. Despite its length, it is very readable and does not feel padded out or slow. This is a long book because it covers a lot, not because it has [...]
The Casebook of Bryant and May – Christopher Fowler & Keith Page graphic novel
I’m a huge fan of Christopher Fowler’s Bryant and May detective novels, and not that much of a reader of graphic novels (the name given to comics for grown-ups, as I always think of it) save for Grandville, Add to that how distinctive my images of Fowler’s regular characters have become thanks to Tim Goodman’s wonderful [...]
Bradley Wiggins – My Time: A great read, whether or not you are a cycling fan
Unless you personally know someone involved, it is hard for the reader to tell how true to life the portrait someone gives of themselves in a memoir is, especially when a ghost-writer is involved. The picture that Bradley Wiggins paints of himself seems pretty plausible sat alongside his public utterances, and the book’s good reception [...]
