27 SEPTEMBER 1986, page 42

Distance Lends (too Much) Enchantment

Victoria Glendinning H.G. WELLS: DESPERATELY MORTAL by David C. Smith Yale University Press, £18.50 T his is, sadly, a bad book. H.G. Wells, old rascal and great man, a......

Round Britain Quis?

Beryl Bainbridge COASTING by Jonathan Raban Collinsl Harville, i70.95 W hat most authors want from a re- viewer, apart from praise, is an intelligent guess at how close he or......