18 OCTOBER 1968, Page 21

Shorter notices

Madame de Pompadour Nancy Mitford (Hamish Hamilton 70s). As a companion volume to The Sun King, Miss Mitford has revised her original biography of Louis XV's most cherished mistress to accommodate a veritable gallery of ravishing and exquisitely reproduced illustrations. Miss Mitford's talent for elevating mere history into a succession of brilliant scandals and exotic court intrigues remains undimmed, despite this glossy com- pany.

7 he Two Shores of Hell Michele Ray (Murray 30s). Ex-Chanel model and amateur racing driver, Mlle Ray disappeared into the Viet- namese jungle for six months, equipped only with a Renault motor-car and a surprisingly limited number of preconceptions about the War. She liked almost everyone she met in the South, was captured by the Vietcong, and liked almost everyone she met in the North as well. There is a very nice photograph of her wearing a Vietcong hat.