11 March 2010

The Oldie Review of Books

Looking for honest, straightforward reviews of books that you'll actually want to read?

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Every quarter we produce the Oldie Review of Books, where we review without mercy! At up to 48 pages, the Review of Books is now bigger than ever. In it, we compile not just our own views but those of all the national press and leading magazines to ensure you get the full picture. There's also a host of special features such as a 4-page literary festivals guide by Rosie Boycott, a great diary and even more cartoons than ever before.

 

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Not sure what to expect?

Browse through the range of titles below to see the breadth of books we review
 

Included in the Winter 2009 Review:

BIOGRAPHY & MEMOIR

Alan Clark Ion Trewin; William Golding John Carey; A Life Like Other People's Alan Bennett; Samuel Johnson David Nokes; The Secret Lives of Somerset Maugham Selina Hastings; Bespoke: Savile Row Ripped and Smoothed Richard Anderson; Climbing the Bookshelves Shirley Williams; My Paper Chase Harold Evans; Papa Spy Jimmy Burns; Charles Dickens Michael Slater; John Piper, Myfanwy Piper Frances Spalding; A Gambling Man: Charles II Jenny Uglow; James Lees-Milne Michael Bloch

LITERARY LIVES

Ludovic Kennedy

THE DAN BROWN EFFECT

Dan Brown’s books have been a phenomenal success, despite many critics attacking the quality of his writing. Random House’s Paul Sidey explains why

HISTORY

The Three Emperors Miranda Carter; Family Britain, 1951–57 David Kynaston; Hunting Evil Guy Walters; Strange Days Indeed Francis Wheen; Lancaster: The Second World War’s Greatest Bomber Leo McKinstry; Finest Years: Churchill as Warlord Max Hastings; Keynes: Return of the Master Robert Skidelsky; The Great Silence Juliet Nicolson; The Clinton Tapes Taylor Branch; The Defence of the Realm Christopher Andrew; The Great British Bobby Clive Emsley; England’s Last War Against France Colin Smith; The Secret History of Georgian London Dan Cruickshank; Conquest: The English Kingdom of France Juliet Barker

FICTION

A Week in December Sebastian Faulks; The Bradshaw Variations Rachel Cusk; The Dying Light Henry Porter; Love and Summer William Trevor; The Ghost Lover Gillian Greenwood

SPORT

Fifty People Who Fouled Up Football Michael Henderson; Ashes to Ashes Andrew Flintoff; Testing Times Andrew Strauss

MISCELLANEOUS

The Worst Date Ever Jane Bussmann; Telling Tales Melissa Katsoulis; Howards End is on the Landing Susan Hill; Outside of a Dog Rick Gekoski

COOKERY BOOKS ROUND-UP

Piers Russell-Cobb eats his way through the best cookery books this winter

ORDER FORM TRAVEL

Along the Enchanted Way William Blacker; Travels with a Typewriter Michael Frayn; Venice: Pure City Peter Ackroyd

REPRINTS

Hardback Classics round-up; East to the Dawn Susan Butler; Allan Quatermain H Rider Haggard; The British Home Guard Pocket- Book Brig-Gen A F U Green

Included in the Autumn 2009 Review:

BIOGRAPHY & MEMOIR

The Last Englishman Roland Chambers; A Fortunate Life Paddy Ashdown; Love Child Allegra Huston; Mad World Paula Byrne; Harold Macmillan Charles Williams; Confessions of a Mullah Warrior Masood Farivar; The Blue Hour Lilian Pizzichini; The Frock-Coated Communist Tristram Hunt; My Father’s Places Aeronwy Thomas; Franklin: Tragic Hero of Polar Navigation Andrew Lambert; Muriel Spark Martin Stannard; Me Byron Rogers; Isaiah Berlin’s letters

GOD

Encounters with God Sister Wendy Beckett; God is Back John Micklethwait and Adrian Wooldridge

HISTORY

Bloody Victory William Philpott; 1938: Hitler’s Gamble Giles Macdonogh; Lords of Finance Liaquat Ahamed; The English Rebel David Horspool; When the Lights Went Out Andy Beckett; The Storm of War Andrew Roberts; Stalin’s Nemesis Bertrand M Patenaude; Bluestockings Jane Robinson; D-Day Antony Beevor; The Last Crusaders Barnaby Rogerson; Revolution 1989 Victor Sebestyen

LITERARY LIVES

John Ryan, creator of Captain Pugwash

PUBLISHING ROUND-UP

Jane Thynne discovers a new breed of publisher and wonders which novelists will stand the test of time

FICTION

Between the Assassinations Aravind Adiga; Turbulence Giles Foden; We are All Made of Glue Marina Lewycka; The Dead of Winter Rennie Airth; Nocturnes Kazuo Ishiguro; The Missing Tim Gautreaux; The Little Stranger Sarah Waters; Hearts and Minds Amanda Craig

MISCELLANEOUS

The Idle Parent Tom Hodgkinson; Frankly, My Dear Molly Haskell; The National Gallery Charles Saumarez Smith; On Roads Joe Moran; Mini Simon Garfi eld; MINI: An Intimate Biography Christy Campbell; The Game Cook Norman Tebbit

SPORT

Lance Armstrong John Wilcockson; Football Nation Andrew Ward and John Williams; Ashes to Ashes Marcus Berkmann

POLITICS & WAR

The Junior Offi cers’ Reading Club Patrick Hennessey; What Price Liberty? Ben Wilson; Pistols at Dawn John Campbell

LITERARY LIVES

Frank McCourt, 1930– 2009

TRAVEL & WORLD

Betjeman’s England Stephen Games; The Smell of the Continent Richard Mullen and James Munson; The Secret Life of France Lucy Wadham; Rivers Griff Rhys Jones; In the Valley of Mist Justine Hardy; The Dead Yard Ian Thomson; Footprints in Paris Gillian Tindall

REPRINTS

The Shell Country Alphabet Geoffrey Grigson; The Adventures of Margery Allingham Julia Jones; Whizz for Atomms and Back in the Jug Agane Geoffrey Willans and Ronald Searle; Eastern Approaches Fitzroy Maclean; Most Secret War R V Jones

Included in the Summer 2009 Review:

BIOGRAPHY & MEMOIR

Chaplin: The Tramp’s Odyssey Simon Louvish; The Music Room William Fiennes; Mother of God Miri Rubin; Frances Partridge Anne Chisholm; Stanley, I Presume Stanley Johnson; Memories of an SOE Historian MRD Foot; The Other Elizabeth Taylor Nicola Beauman; The Match King Frank Partnoy; The Lost Spy Andrew Meier; The Pattern in the Carpet Margaret Drabble; The Old Boys’ Network John Rae; Sisters of Sinai Janet Soskice; The Hidden Roads Kevin Crossley-Holland; The Pursuit of Laughter Diana Mosley; Dancing to the Precipice Caroline Moorehead

FICTION

The Kindly Ones Jonathan Littell; Cold Blood James Fleming; Wolf Hall Hilary Mantel; All the Nice Girls Joan Bakewell; Jeff in Venice, Death in Varanasi Geoff Dyer

REPRINTS

Uncle and Uncle Cleans Up J P Martin; A Crowd is Not Company Robert Kee; Maria Pasqua Magdalen Goffi n; The Breaking Point Daphne du Maurier; Full Hearts & Empty Bellies Winifred Foley

HISTORY

Thatcher’s Britain Richard Vinen; We Gave Our Today William Fowler; The Devil’s Children Loretta Loach; A Senseless, Squalid War Norman Rose; House of Treason Robert Hutchinson; Major Farran’s Hat David Cesarani; Americans in Paris Charles Glass; Warlord: Churchill at War Carlo D’Este; Red Star Over Russia David King; The Morbid Age Richard Overy; Marching to the Fault Line David Hencke and Francis Beckett; Valkyrie Philipp von Boeselager;

CELEBRITY CYNICISM

Marina Hyde and Piers Morgan by Jane Thynne

ART & LITERARY LIFE

Jane’s Fame Claire Harman; The Letters of Samuel Beckett, Volume One; The American Leonardo John Brewer

MISCELLANEOUS

Hot Flushes, Cold Science Louise Foxcroft; Gilding the Lily Amy Stewart; The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work Alain de Botton; A Single Swallow Horatio Clare; Say Goodbye to the Cuckoo Michael Mc- Carthy; Hackney Iain Sinclair

SPORT

It’s Not the Winning that Counts Max Davidson; The Red and the White Huw Richards

LITERARY LIVES

J G Ballard, 1930–2009

ECONOMICS & CURRENT AFFAIRS

A View from the Foothills Chris Mullin; The Storm Vince Cable; Fool’s Gold Gillian Tett

TEENAGE KICKS?

That Julie Myerson scandal, by Dea Birkett



Included in the Spring 2009 Review:

ROUND UP

Christopher Silvester on money-makers’ books

BIOGRAPHY & MEMOIR

The Anatomist Anthony Sampson; The Bard Robert Crawford; The Strangest Man Graham Farmelo; Coda Simon Gray; Sybil Thorndike Jonathan Croall; A Lucky Child Thomas Buergenthal; Archibald Wavell: The Life and Time of an Imperial Servant Adrian Fort; Arthur Miller Christopher Bigsby; The Last American Man Elizabeth Gilbert; My Judy Garland Life Susie Boyt; Maps of My Life Guy Browning; Doctor of Love: James Graham and his Celestial Bed Lydia Syson

HISTORY

Liberation: The Bitter Road to Freedom William I Hitchcock; The Time Traveller’s Guide to Medieval England Ian Mortimer; Millennium Tom Holland; The Ascent of Money Niall Ferguson; The Shameful Peace Frederic Spotts; Khubilai Khan’s Lost Fleet James Delgado; The English Civil Wars Blair Worden; Charge! The Interesting Bits of Military History Justin Pollard; Anything Goes: A Biography of the Roaring Twenties Lucy Moore; Attila the Hun Christopher Kelly

POLITICS & CURRENT AFFAIRS

The Hugo Young Papers Hugo Young; Six-Legged Soldiers Jeffrey A Lockwood; Outliers Malcolm Gladwell; The Weight of a Mustard Seed Wendell Steavenson

FICTION

The Glass Room Simon Mawer; 2666 Roberto Bolaño; A Mercy Toni Morrison; Land of Marvels Barry Unsworth; The Pyramid Henning Mankell; Apology for the Woman Writing Jenny Diski; The Girl Who Played with Fire Stieg Larsson; Liberty Garrison Keillor

LITERARY LIVES

Diana Athill remembers John Updike

ROUND-UP

Peter Lewis on Charles Darwin books

MISCELLANEOUS

The History of the Beano Christopher Riches and Morris Heggie; A Lust for Window Sills Harry Mount; The Tall Man: Death and Life on Palm Island Chloe Hooper; The Natural History of Unicorns Chris Lavers; Classified: The Secret History of the Personal Column; Wales Simon Jenkins; The Best of Punch Cartoons; Sex Drugs & Chocolate Paul Martin; It’s a PC World Edward Stourton

SPORT

Two Planks and a Passion Roland Huntford; Can We Have Our Balls Back, Please? Julian Norridge

GARDENING & NATURE

Outsiders Ronald Blythe; A Prickly Affair Hugh Warwick; Consider the Birds Colin Tudge

ART, MUSIC & FILM

My Life in Cult Movies Michael Deeley; Desperate Romantics Franny Moyle; Hallelujah Junction John Adams; Chagall: Love and Exile Jackie Wullschlager; The Triumph of Music Tim Blanning; Thomas Beecham John Lucas

REPRINTS

A Boy at the Hogarth Press & A Parcel of Time Richard Kennedy; The Worm Forgives the Plough John Stewart Collis; A Little History of the World E H Gombrich; Beware of Pity Stefan Zweig; Letter to a Hostage Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

TRAVEL

The Last Supper: A Summer in Italy Rachel Cusk; The Man Who Invented History: Travels with Herodotus Justin Marozzi; Stones of Aran: Pilgrimage Tim Robinson

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