Do not speak ill of the dead: so runs a familiar injunction, often recalled when it is already too late, and ill has been spoken. And sometimes the dead themselves set a terrible example. Consider the

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

A letter, a book and two paintings by Tracey Emin; right, Ruth Fairlight’s copy of The Colossus Ruth Fainlight and Alan Sillitoe were both in their twenties when they met in a bookshop in Nottingham.

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

In my current project, I don’t quite know what I’m doing, though I’m hoping to strike lucky. As with metal detectorists and those who browse the shelves of charity shops for Ming vases, my hope is alw

A Queer Inheritance: Alternative Histories in the National ...