Alan Johnson

Spectator books of the year: Alan Johnson on why H is for Hawk is A for Amazing

H is For Hawk (Cape, £14.99) is the most ‘A for Amazing’ book I’ve read in a long while. Helen Macdonald weaves together three separate but related strands to produce a majestic tapestry. No reader could fail to be more interested in its primary subject by the end — or to be impressed by the beauty of Macdonald’s prose.

Donal Ryan burst on to the literary scene last year with his prize-winning The Spinning Heart. His latest novel, The Thing About December (Doubleday, £12.99), is a powerful rage against the moral vacuum at the heart of the Irish economy’s transformation into a Celtic Tiger, told in the sad, funny and utterly captivating story of poor Johnsey Cunliffe.

Some of the best political biographies I have read were written by Roy Jenkins. Now John Campbell has given us the definitive life of the great man himself. His Roy Jenkins (Cape, £30) is a towering achievement.

Read the other Spectator books of the year

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