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Booksrss

The dirty dozen

2 June 2012
The Twelve Caesars Matthew Dennison

Atlantic, pp.385, £12.99

I have this fantasy in which I’m the Emperor Nero. I’m relaxing in my toga, and there are these slave girls dancing for me, and one of them has the… Read more

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Enterprising Scots

16 July 2011
The Inner Life of Empires: An Eighteenth-century History Emma Rothschild

Princeton University Press, pp.483, 24.95

If you wish to see how Scotland changed in the century after the Act of Union (1707), you might visit and compare the two houses in Edinburgh that belong to… Read more

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All eyes and ears

14 August 2010
GCHQ: The Uncensored Story of Britain’s Most Secret Intelligence Agency Richard J. Aldrich

Harper Press, pp.666, 30

The Secret Life of Bletchley Park: The History of the Wartime Codebreaking Centre by the Men and Women Who Were There Sinclair McKay

Aurum, pp.336, 20

Both of these books aim, in their different ways, to cater for Britain’s long-standing obsession with espionage and other forms of political and military intelligence. Both of these books aim,… Read more

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Cherchez la femme

12 May 2010
The Temptress: The Scandalous Life of Alice, Countess de Janzé Paul Spicer

Simon & Schuster, pp.308, 14.99

The 22nd Earl of Erroll, Military Secretary in Kenya in the early part of the second world war, was described by two of his fellow peers of the realm as… Read more

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Triumph of the will

7 April 2010
The Forgotten Highlander: My Incredible Story of Survival During the War in the Far East Alistair Urquhart

Little, Brown, pp.312, 18.99

Alistair Urquhart describes himself as ‘a lucky man as well as an angry man’. Alistair Urquhart describes himself as ‘a lucky man as well as an angry man’. No one… Read more

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In the shadow of Mau Mau

24 March 2010
Dreams in a Time of War Ngugi Wa Thiong’o

Harvill Secker, pp.256, 12.99

When the Kenyan human rights campaigner, Maina Kiai, recently addressed the House of Commons, his list of policy recommendations probably surprised many MPs. Be tough on Kenya’s fractious government, he… Read more

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Becoming a Victorian

17 March 2010
Churchill’s Empire: The World That Made Him and the World He Made Richard Toye

Pan Macmillan, pp.524, 25

Churchill Paul Johnson

Viking, pp.192, 15.99

The Churchills: A Family Portrait Celia Lee and John Lee

Palgrave Macmillan, pp.288, 20

Winston Churchill was a racist. He said things like ‘I hate people with slit eyes and pig-tails. I don’t like the look of them or the smell of them’. Winston… Read more

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A slave to her past

10 February 2010
The Long Song Andrea Levy

Headline, pp.312, 18.99

It is to Andrea Levy’s credit that for this, her eagerly-awaited fifth novel, she adopts a narrative approach strikingly different from that of the best-selling, prize-winning, televised Small Island. It… Read more