29 AUGUST 1981, page 19

The Chauvinist Saint

Shiva Naipaul Joan of Arc: The Image of Female Heroism (Weidenfeld and Nicolson pp. 349, £9.95) Early in 1429 a peasant girl, barely 17 years old, presented herself at the court......

Pro-soviet

George Gale Anthony Eden David Carlton (Allen Lane pp. 528, £20). Who said, of whom: 'In conversation quiet, almost shy, with a pleasant smile. Without doubt the man has charm',......