A Very Modern Preservationist
In the last year there has been a great Nairn revival - I would have loved to buy him a pint and hear him speak unpretentiously about his love of architecture
The Real Life of Nabokov
The book is beautifully done, but it is long and feels uneven
Monarchy Without Kings
For anyone interested in the founding of the American Republic this work is indispensable reading
Last post of a post-war poet
Although at times the tone can seem ill-judged, Jon Stallworthy's poems are full of sincere thought about war
Better than a Grand Slam
Clive James: whether the culture is low or high, he is in it for the thrills
Unstitching the Invisibility Coat
Swift's life was unusually rich in legends, rumours, stories and uncertainties, as Leo Damrosch reminds us in the prologue to this engaging and refreshing new biography: Even the basic facts concerning Swift's
She Was Difficult On Britain’s Behalf
It is one mark of the historical importance of Margaret Thatcher that she has inspired three full-dress political biographies within seven months of her death and, still more significantly, that all three
Information Overload
Jeremy Black is unquestionably the most prolific academic historian in Britain and quite possibly the world. Born in 1955, he has already earned 143 entries in the Bodleian catalogue, while Cambridge University
Duller Than Double French
Tristram Hunt found Education Under Siege a useful book. It's nothing more than the dying groans of the blob
It Was All Rot About All Souls
Book review of All Souls and the Wider World edited by S.J.D. Green and Peregrine Horden