The Fragrant Moralist
Hitch-22: A Memoir by Christopher Hitchens
Moral Fog of War
Moral Combat: A History of World War II by Michael Burleigh
The Zombie Argument that Refuses to Die
While it gives more credence to the naysayers than it should, Shakespeare Beyond Doubt excellently marshalls the evidence over the authorship of the bard's plays
All the World’s Royal Stage
Robert Whelan’s history of the Theatre Royal indulges in a bit of frippery, but otherwise artfully and humorously tells the 350-year long story of West-End drama
Dark Days at the DEA
Samuel Brittan's diaries from 1964-66 prove that, even then, the doyen of financial journalism was insightful and, at times, cutting
Poet, Politician and Schemer
Too often Thomas Wyatt's poetry is ignored in favour of biography, but not in Susan Brigden's fantastic new study
A Tragic Loss of Artistic Talent
Mirabel and Hugh Cecil's In Search of Rex Whistler is a fine tribute to a major artist cut down in his prime
1878 And All That
George Weigel's attempt to codify a new Evangelical Catholicism is controversial and idiosyncratic, but has plenty to commend it
Posthumous Wisdom
A prodigious command of English, ingenious playfulness, an obsessive eye for detail: David Foster Wallace's essays trump his novels
Master and Commander
Churchill and Sea Power by Christopher M Bell exonerates the wartime Prime Minister of his alleged military mistakes