18 SEPTEMBER 1993, page 36

Declining But Not Yet Falling

Deryla Murphy CITY OF DJINNS: A YEAR IN DELHI by William Dalrymple HarperCollins, £16.99, pp. 352 O ver the millennia, ghastly and glori- ous things happened in Delhi, often......

A Civilised Optimist Looks At Us

Frances Partridge ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BRITAIN by Bamber Gascoigne Macmillan, £29.95, pp.720 M ost people covet reference books of some description, and one or more are sure to be......