Paul Johnson
Two major contributions to modern his- tory during 1986 were Conor Cruise O'Brien's The Siege: the Saga of Israel and Zionism (Weidenfeld & Nicolson), and Martin Gilbert's Road to Victory: Winston S. Churchill 1941-1945 (Heinemann). O'Brien's account of Zionism and the Israeli state reflects his enviable combina- tion of skills, as diplomatic-politician, historian and man of letters, and the book is full of personal insights. Gilbert's book is the penultimate volume in his vast life of Churchill, one of the great monuments of contemporary historical scholarship. It is well up to the high standard he has set and includes much new material, especially on the wartime conferences.
Two books which gave me great pleasure in 1986 were Miles Jebb's Walkers (Const- able), an elegant account of some famous long-distance pedestrians — Borrow, Bel- loc, Stevenson etc. — by a real expert who has worked out some of the finest itinerar- ies in Europe; and Marcia Poynton's Wil- liam Mulready, 1786-1863 (Victoria & Albert Museum), a learned resurrection of the Anglo-Irish painter now rightly coming back into fashion.
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