26 NOVEMBER 1994, Page 46

J. G. Links

I almost found myself admitting that the book I enjoyed most in 1994 was Alan Clark's Diaries (Phoenix, £6.99); this would have spoken well for my candour but hardly for my taste. Fortunately James Lees-Milne's A Mingled Measure (Murray, £19.99) arrived in the nick of time, and its delights have erased the memory of all the newish books I have read. What a joy to be sharing again, after ten years, the life of this observant, learned and civilised man without actually having to live it. Sound though he is in his hates, he is perhaps a little lavish with his affection, particularly for dukes and his whippet dogs, but he sets an example of how to be class conscious and anti-snobbish at the same time.