Is it to exalt the mountain or the climber that the mountain should be climbed? Or to gain a good vantage point for telling things, pace James Baldwin?
From the engaging author of Lady In Waiting, whose late flowering as a memoirist and author of a pair of deliciously silly thrillers make her a pin-up for so many.
Gyari died in 2018 after a decade as chief negotiator with China over the status of Tibet. His account will be indispensable to anyone wishing to understand that country's modern history.
Born in Australia, she lived and worked in Hong Kong after WW2 and then for the UN in New York. After marrying the great Flaubert scholar Francis Steegmuller, she lived mostly on Capri. She ... read more
Recently outed as 'Deep Miaow', we understand that Larry, the Downing Street cat, has been an important source helping Gimson with his researches. Clearly a descendant of Tobermory.
Already known to many as the author of the superb black comedy Death and the Penguin and others, Kurkov - a Russian-born Ukrainian - has recently been a tireless commentator on the Russian i... read more