I have the problem with bookcases that everyone has, namely their failure to expand indefinitely to accommodate the permanent leakage of books from the outside world into my house. When I downsized to

Best books… Roy Foster The emeritus professor of ...

Philippe Ariès Pages RessuscitéesEdited by Guillaume Gros240pp. Cerf Éditions. €24. Given that Philippe Ariès wrote about man’s relation with his own mortality, it is piquant that the historian has be

Catherine Clarke A History of England in 25 Poems400pp. Allen Lane. £25. Mark Forsyth Rhyme and ReasonA short history of poetry and people (forpeople who don’t usually read poetry)368pp. Allen & Unwin

Michael Henderson on Radio SWIFT PRESS; RADIO 4; ...

You wouldn’t guess from the cover design—three songbirds silhouetted over swatches of picturesque Englishness—but Catherine Clarke’s A History of England in 25 Poems hits one of its sweet spots with a