Books
The same old song
T.S. Eliot liked to recall the time he was recognised by his London taxi driver. Surprised, he told the cabbie…
Pure word music
Since his debut with the Booker-nominated The Restraint of Beasts in 1999, Magnus Mills has delighted and occasionally confounded his…
Made in Chelski
It’s surprising there haven’t been more novels drawing on London’s fascination with Russian oligarchs. But how to write about them…
Words
Late afternoon I speak to Mum on the phone; she’s sorting through her past, four hundred or so odd-sized photographs.…
Dangerously close to home
Mystery fans and writers are always looking for new locations in which murder can take place. Attica Locke has an…
Fighting fear with fear
‘Do it with scissors’ was Alfred Hitchcock’s advice for prospective murderers, though a glance at these two biographies reminds us…
Books and arts
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Ends of the earth
This story, second in a projected series (the first was The Thief Fleet, reviewed in these pages 8 December 2012),…
By Air
Astonishing to think That not so long ago First the Brothers Wright Then Louis Blériot Initiated flight. And strapped into…
Words
Late afternoon I speak to Mum on the phone; she’s sorting through her past, four hundred or so odd-sized photographs.…
By Air
Astonishing to think That not so long ago First the Brothers Wright Then Louis Blériot Initiated flight. And strapped into…
Words
Late afternoon I speak to Mum on the phone; she’s sorting through her past, four hundred or so odd-sized photographs.…
That unmistakable touch of Glass
Philip Hensher infinitely prefers the words to the music of the maverick ‘minimalist’ composer
Some watcher of the skies
We live in an age of astronomical marvels. Last year Europe’s Rosetta spacecraft made a daring rendezvous with the comet…
Early Christian alms race
Peter Brown’s explorations of the mindsets of late antiquity have been educating us for nearly half a century, ever since…
Daring to be a Daniel
As I swink in the field of Thatcher studies, this book brings refreshment. It is a welcome and rare. Far…
Scabrous lyricism
Irvine Welsh, I think it’s safe to say, is not a writer who’s mellowing with age. His latest book sees…
The lure of fool’s gold
In 2008, the price of gold lofted above $1,000 an ounce for the first time in history, inspiring a rush…
Even worms and vampire bats do it
I used to think we had five senses — sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch. And I used to think…
Attack of the night witches
The name Lyuba Vinogradova may not ring any bells, but her ferrety eye for spotting a telling detail may already…
Putting away the fear of childishness
Go to any bookshop — always supposing you’re fortunate enough to have any left in your neck of the woods…
Too Many Poets
Too many poets pack a line with thought But melody refuses to take wing. It’s not that meaning has been…
The mask of death
Remember Ebola? It killed more than 8,000 people last year — before we were all Charlie — with a quarter…
Just sign here…
This being the 800th anniversary of the signing of Magna Carta, it is not surprising that there should be two…
What’s to become of Pedro Friedeberg’s letters?
Duncan Fallowell on the elusive Mexican artist and man-of-letters who has been his friend and faithful correspondent over many years — though they have never met
