Paul Reid's completion of the late William Manchester's Churchill biography surpasses the first two volumes, as good as they were. This work is so incisive that it is like discovering the familiar ground for the first time. Reid's delineation of the main characters strengths and faults is superb. Churchill, Roosevelt, Stalin, Montgomery, Ike, Alan Brooke, Harry Hopkins and a host of others spring to life in way that I have not encountered in other works on the Second World War. For me, there was not a page that did not hold interest; the book is compulsively readable. Highly recommended.

After some misses in the last couple of Harry Bosch novels, not to mention those Lincoln Lawyer stories where Harry plays a supporting role, which is not a good use of his character, I am glad to see that he is back in form in The Drop. The story is well plotted and paced and an entertaining read. Even if it is not fully up to the angst and edge of the early Bosch novels, it is still enough so to put it head and shoulders above most of the competition. Recommended.

This final volume of Morris' trilogy covers the last decade of Teddy Roosevelt's life. It is terrific reading and worthy of another Pulitzer. A larger than life character in all ways, TR is fascinating but not always admirable. His egotism lead him to despise and oppose his successor Taft and, later, to attempt to undermine the pre war policies of Wilson. His bombast and jingoism met their match in the horrors of the First World War, which included personal tragedy for him and his family. Morris' writing is fresh and insightful. Highly recommended.

Connelly's latest is better than his previous one, Nine Dragons, but that is not saying much. Nine Dragons was a mess with Bosch out of L. A. and out of his element battling a horrible plot line. I don't think the joint Mickey Haller/ Bosch novels work very well in any event. Bosch is too great a creation to share top billing. What I long for is the Bosch of the early novels when he was not only battling the crooks and his own demons but also the corrupt elements of the Los Angeles police force at the same time, in a series of cleverly constructed books. Suddenly Bosch is politically correct and a bit namby pamby as a single parent. Snap out of it Harry!

This work, based largely on primary sources, takes a new look at the "glorious revolution" and comes to some fresh conclusions. I found it most interesting in, by inference, filling in a sort of missing link to the elements that led to the American Revolution some 90 years later. The removal of James II in 1688 was hailed at the time in terms of the restoration of liberty, freedom and English rights, foreshadowing the language used in the American colonies and the Declaration of Independence. Clearly the Whig tradition was well established in the new world in the 17th century. This is a stimulating read.

This is a lucid and appealing book that casts another nail in the coffin of the fraud known as Global Warming aka Climate Change. It should be read by every attendee at the debacle in Copenhagen, including hot air specialist Al Gore.

Michael Connelly's Harry Bosch novels are in a class of their own, and Echo Park continues his string of well plotted, well written page turners. The character is similar in many ways to Ian Rankin's Inspector Rebus, which I also like, however I would give the edge to Harry Bosch.

I recently enjoyed 'Blue Latitudes', the story of Captain Cook's three great voyages of discovery. 'Barrow's Boys' is a wonderful companion piece, carrying on the incredible story of British exploration following the end of the Napoleonic Wars. The author presents these interwoven stories in a well researched, breezy narrative and with a dash of humour that keeps the pages turning and the reader wishing for more. Highly recommended.

While somewhat useful as a general guide to London restaurants and prices, this directory would serve the visitor better with some subjective ratings of the usual one to five star variety. Most tourists want to know where the good grub is at a good price. Aside from a couple of references, this book doesn't really tell you.

As a gentle comedy of pre World War I manners and sensibilities, set in Florence and England, E. M. Forster's "A Room With a VIew" is a 20th century masterpiece. The novel shares some of the conventions of works by Forster's contemporaries Galsworthy and Hardy, but with a lighter touch. I suspect that this is one of a small handful of British novels of the last century which will continue to be read and enjoyed a hundred years from now..