18 APRIL 1998, page 36

An Armchair Critic

Sheridan Morley ENCHANTED EVENINGS: THE BROADWAY MUSICAL FROM SHOW BOAT TO SONDHEIM by Geoffrey Block OUP, £25, pp. 410 W ith Show Boat, the Broadway musical which launched the......

The Special Charm Of Failure

Jonathan Sumption HOSTAGE TO FORTUNE: THE TROUBLED LIFE OF FRANCIS BACON, 1561-1626 by Lisa Jardine and Alan Stewart Gollancz, £25, pp. 637 H istory is kind to learned men, even......