17 OCTOBER 1998, page 41

The Passing Of Arthur

Cressida Connolly PRECIOUS LIVES by Margaret Forster Chatto, £16.99, pp. 232 O urs is not to reason why, ours but to do and die, is about as unfashionable an idea as hot Bovril.......

How, Why And Wow!

Jonathan Gathorne-Hardy UNWEAVING THE RAINBOW by Richard Dawkins Penguin, £20, pp. 337 W ith a profound, completely original thesis to unfold, as in The Selfish Gene, Richard......