6 DECEMBER 1986, Page 31

Hugh Cecil The volume that has given me greatest pleasure

this year is Dermod MacCarthy's Sailing with Mr Belloc (Collins/Harvill), a memoir recalling the author's nerve- racking and hilarious coastal cruises in an ancient wooden cutter under the command of its eccentric owner. It is a rich, affirma- tive book, full of humour, wisdom and vivid atmospheric description. Another restorative in these gloomy days has been Paul Levy's splendid selection of his arti- cles on food from the Observer, Out to Lunch (Chatto). This is a riot of culinary adventure and bizarre information. Do not be put off by the Hodgkin splodge on the cover: the contents are definitely edible. Trevor Wilson's fine panoramic picture of Britain in the first world war, The Myriad Faces of War completes my trio.