CONTENTS

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WBOB

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ILLUSTRATION

COVER

Review of Books

ISSUE 17 AUTUMN 2011

NOT FORGETTING... IMPORTANT TITLES RECENTLY

REVIEWED IN THE OLDIE

• Young Prince Philip by Philip Eade • Cooking and Dining with the Wordsworths by Peter Brears • Bismarck: A Life by Jonathan Steinberg • A Shell Eye on England by David Heathcote • Afgantsy by Rodric Braithwaite • Not in My Day, Sir: Cricket Letters to the Daily Telegraph edited by Martin Smith • The Girl in the Polka Dot Dress by Beryl Bainbridge • Babysitting George by Celia Walden

I N T H I S I S S UE

4. BIOGRAPHY AND MEMOIR Mysterious Wisdom Rachel CampbellJohnston; First Lady of Fleet Street Eilat Negev and Yehuda Koren; House of Exile Evelyn Juers; Endgame: Bobby Fischer Frank Brady; Octavia Jane Shaw; The Children of Lovers Judy Golding; Secret Days Asa Briggs; Dante in Love A N Wilson; Constance Franny Moyle; Ghosts by Daylight Janine di Giovanni

7. PICK OF THE PAPERBACKS 10. HISTORY For Honour and Fame: Chivalry in England Nigel Saul; To End all Wars Adam Hochschild; Rome Robert Hughes; Liberty’s Exiles Maya Jasanoff; The Great Sea David Abulafia; Invisible Romans Robert Knapp; Millions Like Us Virginia Nicholson; Russia: A 1000-Year History of the Wild East Martin Sixsmith; The Inner Life of Empires Emma Rothschild

14. THE LURE OF WAR Patrick Mercer contemplates the vastly different nature of war literature

16. CURRENT AFFAIRS Back from the Brink Alistair Darling; Ghost Milk: Calling Time on the Grand Project Iain Sinclair; A Walk-On Part: Diaries 1994–1999 Chris Mullin

17. DOG DAYS Cait Mercer immerses herself in the world of dog books

19. FICTION Smut: Two Unseemly Stories Alan Bennett; A Visit from the Goon Squad Jennifer Egan; Wish You Were here Graham Swift

20. MURDER AND MAYHEM Mr Briggs’ Hat Kate Colquhoun; Frenzy!: Heath, Haigh & Christie: The First Great Tabloid Murderers Neil Root; The Psychopath Test Jon Ronson; The Devil You Know Kerry Daynes and Jessica Fellowes

21. LITERARY LIVES Francis King, 1923–2011

22. ORDER FORM

23. SPORT Twirlymen Amol Rajan; Running With Fire Mark Ryan; Jack Hobbs: England’s Greatest Cricketer Leo McKinstry

25. FOREIGN PARTS Deadly Waters Jay Bahadur; Undercover Muslim Theo Padnos; Into the Arena Alexander Fiske-Harrison; Odessa Charles King

30. REPRINTS Wild Life in Southern County Richard Jefferies; The King’s English Kingsley Amis; There’s No Home Alexander Baron; A Pattern of Islands Arthur Grimble

The Goves of Academe

Published by The Oldie magazine, 65 Newman Street, London W1T 3EG Editorial panel: Richard Ingrams, Jeremy Lewis, Sonali Chapman, James Pembroke, Brian MacArthur, Patrick Mercer, Christopher Silvester Reviews Editor: Sonali Chapman Design: Joseph Buckley, Silvia Baz Reviewers: Jonathan Beckman, Sonali Chapman, Jennie Erdal, Tom Fleming, Richard Ingrams, Lucy Lethbridge, Jeremy Lewis, Robert Low, Brian MacArthur, Patrick Mercer, Christopher Silvester, Giles Wood Publisher: James Pembroke Advertising: Lisa Martin, Azmi Elkholy, Jack Watts For advertising enquiries, call Lisa Martin on 020 7487 8405 For editorial enquiries, call 020 7436 8801 or email editorial@theoldie.co.uk

Autumn 2011 Review of Books THE OLDIE 3