c o n t e n t s

29 John Sweeney

The Shadow World: Inside the Global Arms Trade Andrew Feinstein 30 Adr ian Weale

Losing Small Wars: British Military Failure in Iraq and Afghanistan Frank Ledwidge • A War of Choice: The British in Iraq 2003-2009 Jack Fairweather • Can Intervention Work? Rory Stewart & Gerald Knaus w r i t e r s & a rt i st s 32 D J Taylor

The Heroic Life of George Gissing: Parts I & II Pierre Coustillas 35 Mir anda Seymour

Three Lives: A Biography of Stefan Zweig Oliver Matuschek 36 Matthe w Adams

Martin Amis: The Biography Richard Bradford 38 Mic hael Peppiatt

Van Gogh: The Life Steven Naifeh & Gregory White Smith 39 James Hal l

Bernini: His Life and His Rome Franco Mormando 40 W illiam Feaver

Hockney: The Biography, Volume I – 1937–1975 Christopher Simon Sykes • A Bigger Message: Conversations with David Hockney Martin Gayford f i lm & dance 42 Frederic Raphael

Hollywood Left & Right: How Movie Stars Shaped American Politics Steven J Ross 44 R upert Christiansen

A Dancer in Wartime: One Girl ’s Journey from the Blitz to Sadler’s Wells Gillian Lynne • The Everyday Dancer Deborah Bull 45 F rank McLynn

Spencer Tracy: A Biography James Curtis s e c ond wor l d war 46 Richard Overy

Kiev 1941: Hitler’s Battle for Supremacy in the East David Stahel • The Battle of Midway Craig L Symonds • December 1941: Twelve Days that Began a World War Evan Mawdsley 48 Julian T hompson

All Hell Let Loose: The World at War 1939-45 Max Hastings 50 P atrick Marnham

A Train in Winter: A Story of Resistance, Friendship and Survival Caroline Moorehead b e l l e s l e t t r e s 52 Eric Ormsby

Stranger Magic: Charmed States & the Arabian Nights Marina Warner • Visions of the Jinn: Illustrators of the Arabian Nights Robert Irwin 53 P eter Washington

Lives of the Novelists: A History of Fiction in 294 Lives John Sutherland 54 Jer emy Noel-Tod

The 20th Century in Poetry (Edd) Michael Hulse & Simon Rae 56 O liver Dennis on four collections of new poetry 57 Anthea Bel l

Across the Land and the Water: Selected Poems, 1964–2001 W G Sebald 58 David P rofumo

From Elvish to Klingon: Exploring Invented Languages (Ed) Michael Adams f e a st & fa st 59 Sophia Waugh relishes five books about food 60 Joan S mith

Calories & Corsets: A History of Dieting over 2,000 Years Louise Foxcroft b a d s e x r e p ort 61 Jonathan Beckman b a c k t o the u s s r 63 Rachel Polonsky

Moscow, the Fourth Rome: Stalinism, Cosmopolitanism and the Evolution of Soviet Culture, 1931–1941 Katerina Clarke 64 Donald R ayfield

It Was a Long Time Ago and It Never Happened Anyway: Russia and the Communist Past David Satter g e n e r a l 66 Eric Kaufmann

The Better Angels of Our Nature: The Decline of Violence in History and its Causes Steven Pinker 68 Manjit K umar The Infinity Puzzle Frank Close 70 Ale xander Waugh

The Gentry: Stories of the English Adam Nicolson 71 Diana Athil l

Londoners: The Days and Nights of London Now – As Told By Those Who Love It, Hate It, Live It, Left It and Long For It Craig Taylor 72 C hris Lavers

The Bear: History of a Fallen King Michel Pastoureau d e c 2 0 1 1 / j a n 2 0 1 2 | Literary Review 3