Books
The making of William Golding as a writer
Letters between Golding and Faber’s Charles Monteith reveal just how much the author owed to his editor – not least in the choice of book titles
The reluctant spy: The Predicament, by William Boyd, reviewed
Sucked further into the quicksand of 1960s espionage, Gabriel Dax is sent to Guatemala, and then on to West Berlin, where he uncovers a plot to assassinate President Kennedy
A feast for quiz-lovers: Christmas gift books
Delightful oddities include: foreign equivalents of ‘Joe Bloggs’; alternatives to the word ‘Hello’; and El Greco’s offer to repaint the Sistine Chapel
Serenity and splendour: a choice of gardening books
Recommendations include: Melbourne Hall Garden, by Jodie Jones; The English Landscape Garden, by Tim Richardson; and Diary of a Keen Gardener, by Mary Keen
Faith – and why mountains move us
The French writer Sylvain Tesson feels anxiety lift, bitterness vanish and travel transform into prayer in the course of a ski journey across the Alps, spread over four winters
‘I could turn very nasty – I was an egotistical brute’, says Anthony Hopkins
Judging by his autobiography, it’s no wonder the actor was in such demand to play devils, killers, bullies, werewolves and ruthless kings
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
Abbott delves into Down Under
‘He who controls the past, controls the future’ wrote George Orwell in his classic work, 1984. This is something Tony…
Beaujolais – a refuge for impecunious wine lovers
With burgundy prices going through the roof, enthusiasts are flocking to the neighbouring region, which few have taken seriously until now
The Belgian resistance finally gets its due
Helen Fry’s account of the men and women who risked all to provide intelligence about their German occupiers in both world wars makes for a gripping tale of courage, ingenuity and sacrifice
Even as literate adults, we need to learn how to read
Robert Douglas-Fairhurst shows us the rewards of reading slowly and attentively – and making connections between seemingly disparate things
How the terrorists of the 1970s held the world to ransom
It is remarkable how few people it took – only around 100 – to cause carnage over four different continents, says Jason Burke
Unhappy band of brothers: the Beach Boys’ story
The quintessential Californian band who sang of sun, sand and surfing had, like the Golden State itself, a dark side as well as light
What drove the German housewife to vote for Hitler?
Focusing on the top echelons of Weimar politics, Volker Ullrich barely considers what options ordinary people had, crushed by hyperinflation in the 1920s Republic
Will the ‘bunny boiler’ tag continue to haunt single women?
From the femme fatale of noir to Fatal Attraction’s Alex, the unattached female has often been feared and scorned
Zadie Smith muses on the artist-muse relationship
In an outstanding essay on Lucian Freud and Celia Paul, inspirations for each other, Smith even admits to having offered to model for Freud herself as a teenager
Was Cat Stevens the inspiration for Carly Simon’s ‘You’re So Vain’?
The pop pin-up of the 1970s certainly suggests so – and, judging by his ‘official autobiography’, still finds himself endlessly fascinating
Paul Poiret and the fickleness of fashion
The master couturier, once celebrated by le tout Paris, found himself by the 1920s debt-ridden and eclipsed by the likes of Coco Chanel and Elsa Schiaparelli
A treasure chest of myths: The Poisoned King, by Katherine Rundell, reviewed
In the archipelago of Glimouria live many fantastic creatures: nereids, mermaids, riddle-posing sphinxes, and endangered dragons in need of rescue by an Outsider
The lonely passions of Katherine Mansfield
Mansfield’s early infatuations led to many catastrophic rejections – and even in their brief marriage, her husband John Middleton Murry would treat her with wounding indifference
Books of the Year I – chosen by our regular reviewers
Popular choices include Merlin Holland’s After Oscar, Ian McEwan’s What We Can Know and Vincenzo Latronico’s Perfection
Are Vermeer’s paintings really coded religious messages?
‘View of Delft’ is not just a representation of some buildings seen across a stretch of dullish water but a vision of the celestial city, argues Andrew Graham-Dixon
The Wall Street Crash never ceases to fascinate
The 1929 catastrophe and its aftermath have obvious parallels and connections with our own era, as Andrew Ross Sorkin illustrates
A celebration of friendship – by Andrew O’Hagan
‘Get the drinks in, tell stories and make the day better than it was’, writes the novelist, as he delves deep into his friendships from childhood to the present
Thrilling tales of British pluck
Few stirring stories compare with the six-week long Battle of Baku against the Ottomans – arguably the least remembered engagement of the first world war
