Recent paperbacks
James Hughes-Onslow
The Longman Pocket History Dictionary, edited by Plantaganet Somerset Fry (£1.25). There are about 10,000 handy, if arbitrary, (Wilson is in but Macmillan isn't) facts in this compact (3"x4") volume. Startle your friends.
Golden Earth: Travels in Burma, Norman Lewis, (Eland £4.95). First published in 1952 this is a companion volume to Lewis's other S.E. Asian classic of that era, A Dragon Apparent, about Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos.
The Chalto & Windus Almanack, illustrated by Stanley Spencer (£2.95). Your chance to write a diary illustrated by the late Su Stanley RA. The only book he ever illustrated, it was published in 1927 but has been adapted for 1984 use.
The Changing Anatomy of Britain, Anthony Sampson (Coronet £3.95). Sampson's anatomical tour de force, in paperback for the first time in 21 years, has been written with the co-operation of the Prime Minister, The Prince of Wales, Moss Evans and Lord Denning — but not Rupert Murdoch or his own boss Tiny Rowland.
Naples '44 Norman Lewis (Eland £3.95) The diary of a soldier in the invading Allied army in Italy. Lewis made good use of these chaotic times to observe the humour and squalor of Southern Italy with a subtle mixture of involvement and detachment.
An Illustrated History of Cardening, Anthony Huxley (Macmillan £7.95), Did you know that there was once a differently shaped spade in use in every county in Britain? Huxley leaves no sod unturned.
Lord Elgin and the Marbles, William St Clair (OUP £4,50). The 170-year squabble over who owns the marbles may soon land on the head- mistress's desk in Downing Street. It will take firmnesS and even-handedness to unravel the complex twists of this saga.
Ralph Richardson, Carry O'Connor (Coronet £2.50). A sadly well-timed biography of the senior, and most eccentric, of the theatrical knights. O'Connor is fascinated by his sense of secrecy: 'His passion to conceal is what excites the curiosity he is so keen to. discourage.'
A History of Venice, John Julius Norwich (Penguin £8.95). A comprehensive and sentimen- la] contribution by the Chairman of the Venice in Peril Fund (based on notes by his father Dal Cooper) now in paperback to co-incide with the Venetian exhibition at the Academy.
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