Elizabethan Enigma
Edmund Spenser: A Life by Andrew Hadfield is vivid in parts, but ultimately fails to paint a clear picture of the 16th century poet
Politics, Ideas and the Arts
The Admirable Criterion
A new collection of Roger Kimball's literary and cultural criticism places him in the exalted company of Augustine Birrell and Walter Bagehot
Pandora’s Books
Belinda Jack's The Woman Reader charts the fascinating history of female literacy from Sappho to illegal book clubs in modern-day Iran
Kilburn Confidential
After a seven-year hiatus, Zadie Smith returns with her fourth novel, NW. It is in turn vivid, angry and surprising
Scotland’s Bravest and Britain’s Best
Two books, by Sarah Fraser and Victoria Schofield, provide an invaluable and accessible insight into Scottish military history
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
Why Africa is Turning East
Dambisa Moyo's Winner Take All is a worthwhile attempt to focus attention on China's increasing influence in Africa but the author fails to adequately tackle the subject
Mao to Deng and Back Again
China in Ten Words is a clarion call to the West. Yu Hua reminds us that the country is still struggling to escape an unresolved history
Trapped By His Style
Martin Amis is a true writer but Lionel Asbo is yet another example of his failure to break into a new vein
Tales of Love and Loss
Lapsed Catholics, guardian angels and good sex: Wendy Perriam's new book of short stories are passionately moving
K Street Crusaders
Christopher Buckley's new political satire sends up DC's politicos, but ultimately doesn't satarise them enough
A Man for our Season
Hilary Mantel's Bring Up the Bodies is a dazzling exercise in literary ventriloquism, but it panders too much to modern sensibilities, painting Thomas Cromwell as a secular saint