Lead book review
All the gossip about Lady Chatterley’s Lover
Trawling through decades of songs, newspapers, films and merchandise, Guy Cuthbertson catches a shoal of ephemera relating to Lawrence’s last novel
How interwar Germany became a breeding ground for evil
The permissiveness of the 1920s led to an autocratic backlash, with ‘the entire class representing intellectual Germany’ becoming ‘Nazi-infested’, according to the diplomat Harry Kessler
J.G. Ballard’s surreal fiction continues to resonate through the century
Christopher Priest’s sympathetic biography, completed by his wife after his premature death, will enlighten new readers and maintain Ballard’s reputation
A deadly imitation game: the fate of the British teenager who posed as a Russian oligarch’s son
Patrick Radden Keefe investigates the mystery of Zac Brettler’s fall from the balcony of a luxury riverside apartment into the Thames one November night in 2019
Only prigs and bores could object to the incongruity of Portmeirion
With its colonnade, campaniles and ice-cream colours, Clough Williams-Ellis’s fantasy brings a touch of the Italian Riviera to north Wales
Riddled with contradictions: the enigma of Jan Morris
The self-made woman remained obstinately masculine; the admirer of imperialism was a passionate Welsh nationalist; and the travel writer could be both superficial and profound
Why Hitler’s suave architect escaped the noose at Nuremberg
Albert Speer was treated leniently because he was softly-spoken, well-dressed and ‘much the most appealing’ of all the defendants, according to Telford Taylor, one of the prosecutors
A revival of Alan Bennett’s early work is long overdue
Until the archive is made available, the diaries will have to do. But some superb dramas from the past century are sadly missed
How an illiterate peasant changed the course of modern history
Grigory Rasputin was no Machiavelli but a simple, venal man who wielded an influence far more dangerous than he could ever comprehend
The curse of gold for the Asante nation
Vast quantities of gold recovered from the alluvial riverbeds of west Africa attracted the attention of British colonialists, leading to ruthless pillage throughout the 19th century
‘He never drew a peaceful breath’: the tormented life of Henry VII
The challenges faced by the minor Welsh earl with tenuous claims to the English throne shattered his health, weakened his grip on affairs and eventually lost him the trust of his subjects
Blitz spirits: Nonesuch, by Francis Spufford, reviewed
Set in war-torn London, this fantastical novel featuring shape-shifting angels, parallel universes and a homicidal female fascist deserves to be a colossal success
Rupert Murdoch’s warped vision of family
The absentee father, who always put his media empire first, enjoyed playing his children off against one another – with crippling consequences
Forgetting was the best defence for the Kindertransport refugees
Alfred and Doris Moritz remained largely silent about their persecution in Nazi Germany, having tried their best to erase the memory, according to their son Michael
Leonardo Sciascia and the reshaping of the detective novel
Crimes go unpunished while injustice is upheld and truth perverted. Such is the Mafia reality, according to the saturnine Sciascia
Imposing Christianity on Europe’s last pagans
The heroic deeds of the Teutonic knights were once part of Germany’s foundational myth. Now the black cross is associated with the swastika and Hitlerian schemes of expansion
The last chapter: Departure(s), by Julian Barnes, reviewed
Aged 80, the Booker prize-winning novelist bids farewell to his devoted readers in a masterpiece of narrative trickery
The spiritual yearnings of David Bowie
Gnosticism was one of Bowie’s lifelong obsessions and the outer reaches of religious thought inspired many of his lyrics
Carlo Scarpa’s artful management of light and space
The startling interventions and adaptations of a great 20th-century Venetian architect and designer are examined in detail by Federica Goffi
The extraordinary courage of Germany’s wartime ‘traitors’
With Nazi informers everywhere, any dissident risked betrayal – and the prospect of being hanged ‘like slaughtered cattle’ for ‘defeatism’
John Updike’s letters overflow with lust, ambition, guilt and shame
‘Affairs are cruel, and if they are sin, they carry the punishment with them’, he wrote to one of the many women he cheated on throughout a long life
Jessica was the only Mitford worth taking seriously
But her unfailing humour does help lighten a solid new biography that focuses on her tireless campaign for social justice
Is ‘wind drought’ the latest climate catastrophe?
In an enjoyable guide to wind-related topics, Simon Winchester reports that terrestrial wind speeds are mysteriously declining and we are now in the grip of ‘the Great Stilling’
What do Oscar Wilde, Gwen John and Evelyn Waugh have in common?
They converted to Catholicism in the past century and are among 12 notable ‘defectors to Rome’ examined by Melanie McDonagh
Books of the Year II – further recommendations from our regular reviewers
Popular choices include: Look Closer, by Robert Douglas-Fairhurst; Clown Town, by Mick Herron; The Finest Hotel in Kabul, by Lyse Doucet
