The Oldie Review of Books
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Browse through the range of titles below to see the breadth of books we review
Included in the Winter 2009 Review:
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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:
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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:
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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:
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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 |
