CONTENTS

THIS MONTH 'S PULPIT is written by A C G rayling , whose most recent book , Th e Hea rt of Thiugs, is published by Weidenfeld & Ni colson.

RICHARD HoLMES is professor of military and sec urit y studies a t C ra nfi e ld Unive~i ty and the Defence College o f M ana gem ent and T ec hn o lo gy . His To111111Y: Th e British So ldi er 0 11 th e Wes tern Frout has ju st app eared in p ap e rb ac k , a nd Sahib: Th e British Soldier in. ludia 1750-1914 will be published by HarperCollins in September.

SARA WHEELER is a much-admired tr ave l writ e r. H e r bio g r a ph y o f O e n ys Fin c h Hatton will b e published next year by J onathan C ape.

PETER MCO ONALD's most rece nt b o ok o f poetry, Pa storal s, w as publi shed las t year by Carcan e t .

j ANE RIDLEY is writing a bio graph y of Kin g Edward VII , to be publi shed by C hatto & Windus.

LIONEL KOCHAN is a member ofWolJSon College, Oxford. His most recent publicanon is Th e Makiug of Westem Jewry, 160D-1819 (Palgrave Macmillan).

lA N WHI TCOMB is a lon g-te rm res ident of Los Angeles but retai ns a nostalg ia for Wimbl edon Common and Richmond Park. He is a musi cian and composer, and his books include A.fier the Ball, a history of popular music.

LAURENCE KELLY 's las t boo k was Diplomacy atld Murder i11 Tehra u: Alexauder Criboyedov and l111perial Russia's Missiou to the Shah '!f Persia (I B T auris).

R OBERT NvE's novels TI1 e LAte Mr Shakespea re and Fa/staff a re still in print (AIIi so n & Bu sb y); hi s lat es t publi cati o n is Th e Rain and the Class: 99 Po e111 s, New a11d elec ted (Green w ich Exc hange).

LITERARY REVIEW July 2005

PULPIT

HISTORY

LITERARY LIVES

1 A C GRAYLING

4 l:ti CHARD HOLME S Th e Somm e Peter Hart

5 RI CHARD OVERY The Lights that Failed: European

Int ernational History 1919- 1933 Zara Steiner 7 FRANK FAIRFIELD A Life in S ec rets : Th e Story of Vera

Atkins and th e Lo st A ge nt s of SOE Sarah Helm 9 TOM P oco c K Admiral Collingwood: Nelson 's O .vn. Hero Max Adams 10 DONALD RAYFIELD Stalin 's Folly : The Secret History of th e

German Invasion of Russia , Ju ne 1941 Constantine Pleshakov 12 JONATHAN KEATES Rome or Death: The Obsessions of General

Garibaldi Daniel Pick 13 BRENDA MADDOX Children of War: Th e Second World War throttgh th e Eyes of a G eneration Susan Goodman

15 PETER M c DONALD Williarn Empson: Among th e

Mandarins John Haffenden 17 CATHERINE PETERS Hid e-and-Seek 111ith th e Angels: A Life ofJ M Barrie Lisa Chaney 18 JEREMY LEWIS Party in th e Blitz : Th e English Years Elias Canetti

EASTERN APPROACHES 20 JASON GooDWIN Osrnan's Dream: The Story of the Ottoman

El'npire, 130G--1923 Caroline Finkel

21 J ONATHAN MIRSKY Lost in Tib et: Th e Untold St ory of

Fiv e American Airmen , a Doom ed Plan e, and th e Will to Surviv e Ri c hard Starks & Miriam Murcutt 23 NI CK SMITH The Sp ice Rot.tte: A History John Keay

LETTERS

CITIES IN PERIL

25

26 NI GELJONES Th e Setting cif the Pearl: Vienrw under Hitler

Thomas Weyr 27 JEREMY PATERSON Pomp eii: Th e Living City Alex

Butterworth & Ra y Laurence 28 JESSI CA MANN The Longes t Night : Voi ces from the London Blitz

G avin Mortimer

THE FAST SET

30 PATR.I CK O 'CONNOR Alexis: Th e Memoirs of th e Baron de R ede

(Eel) Hugo Vickers 31 JANE RIDLEY Con suelo and Alva: Lo11e, Power and

Suffrag e in the Gilded A ge Amanda Mackenzie Stuart 32 L IONEL KOCHAN The Orientalist: l11 Search of a Mart

Caug ht Between Ea st and W es t Tom Reiss

Editor: NA CY SLADEK Acting Editor: ALAN RAFFER.TY Commissioning Editor: JEREMY LEWIS

Editorial A ssis tant : TOM FLEMING Contributing Editor: SEBASTIA SHAK.ESPEAJlE

Business Manager: SAIU H MAHAFFY Advertising Manager: T ERRY FINN EGAN

Fout'tdit1g Editor: DR ANNE SMITH Founding Fath er: AVBERON WAUGH

Cover illustration by Clrris Riddell

Iss ue t'/0. 323