c o n t e n t s de c ember 2 0 1 1 / j a naua r y 2 0 1 2 • i s s u e 3 9 4

Editor Nancy Sladek Deputy Editor Tom Fleming Editor-at-Large Jeremy Lewis Senior Editor Jonathan Beckman Editorial Assistants Frank Brinkley • Tom Williams Contributing Editors Michael Burleigh Sara Wheeler • Philip Womack Advertising Manager Terry Finnegan Classified Advertising David Sturge Founding Father Auberon Waugh Cover Illustration Chris Riddell

The Literary Review, incorporating Quarto, is published monthly from: 44 Lexington Street, London W1F 0LW • Tel: 020 7437 9392 Fax: 020 7734 1844 • ISSN 0144 4360 © All subscription enquiries and changes of address to: Literary Review Subscriptions, FREEPOST RSJB-SUGY-ZKRA, Impakt MMD Ltd, 3-4 Pylon Way, Croydon CR0 4XX • Tel: 020 8683 7151 All advertising enquiries to: Terry Finnegan, Literary Review, 44 Lexington Street, London W1F 0LW • Tel: 020 7437 9392 Printed in the United Kingdom by: Henry Ling Ltd, at the Dorset Press, Dorchester DT1 1HD • Tel: 01305 251 066 Distributed to newsagents worldwide by: COMAG Specialist, Tavistock Works, Tavistock Rd, West Drayton, Middlesex, UB7 7QX • Tel: 01895 433 800 Distributed to bookshops by: Central Books, 99 Wallis Road, London E9 5LN • Tel: 020 8986 4854 Subscriptions: theliteraryreview@warnes.co.uk Editorial: editorial@literaryreview.co.uk www.literaryreview.co.uk • @lit_review Designed by Cog Design Literary Review is set in Adobe Caslon and Janet. The latter is a digitisation of an engraved typeface designed by the artist and typographer Reynolds Stone, and named after his wife.

Literary Review | d e c 2 0 1 1 / j a n 2 0 1 2 2

p u l p i t 1 Frances Wilson h i st or y 6 Frank Dikötter

God is Red: The Secret Story of How Christianity Survived and Flourished in Communist China Liao Yiwu 7 Christopher Andrew

Spies and Commissars: Bolshevik Russia and the West Robert Service 9 Brendan Simms

The Russian Origins of the First World War Sean McMeekin 10 O A Westad

Roosevelt’s Lost Alliances: How Personal Politics Helped Start the Cold War Frank Costigliola 12 Vernon Bogdanor

The Two Unions: Ireland, Scotland, and the Survival of the United Kingdom, 1707-2007 Alvin Jackson 13 Kwasi Kwarteng

Britain’s Empire: Resistance, Repression and Revolt Richard Gott 14 Bertrand Taithe

The Battle of Adwa: African Victory in the Age of Empire Raymond Jonas 15 Michael Burleigh

Memories of Empire, Vol I: The White Man’s World Bill Schwarz 16 David Caute

Who Killed Hammarskjöld? The UN, The Cold War and White Supremacy in Africa Susan Williams b i o g r a p hy & d i a r i e s 18 Robert Irwin

Saladin Anne-Marie Eddé 20 Adrian Tinniswood

Queen Anne: The Politics of Passion Anne Somerset 21 Claire Harman

The Court Journals and Letters of Frances Burney, Vol I: 1786 & Vol II: 1787 (Edd) Peter Sabor & Stewart Cooke 22 Leslie Mitchell

Enigma: A New Life of Charles Stewart Parnell Paul Bew 24 David Cesarani

Eva Braun: Life with Hitler Heike B Görtemaker 25 Adam Sisman

The Wartime Journals Hugh Trevor-Roper (Ed) Richard Davenport-Hines hot t o p i c s 26 John Gray

Green Philosophy: How to Think Seriously About the Planet Roger Scruton 27 Malise Ruthven

The Rise and Fall of al-Qaeda Fawaz A Gerges • The Black Banners: Inside the Hunt for al-Qaeda Ali H Soufan 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