2 AUGUST 1986, page 24

Not Quietly Desperate But Defiantly Humorous

Francis King AN ACADEMIC QUESTION by Barbara Pym Macmillan, £9.95 T . wo weeks ago Anita Brookner pub- lished in the Spectator what was more a general appraisal of Barbara Pym......

The Ghost Wins

Eric Christiansen THOMAS BECKET by Frank Barlow Weidenfeld & Nicolson, £14.95 H e wasn't exactly an Englishman, but I suppose he was the most famous Londoner who ever lived;......

There Was A Misleading Cut In The Second Paragraph Of

Anthony Storr's review of Richard Osborne's Rossini last week. The opening sentences should have read: 'Richard Osborne's book will redress that balance in Rossini's favour, and......