30 MAY 1992, page 30

His Master's Voice

Rupert Christiansen PETER PEARS by Christopher Headington Faber, £20, pp. 351 4 1 am sensitive and not a fool singer', the young Peter Pears reflected in 1936. 'How wrong it is......

The Defence Of Malta

Nicolas Barker TORPEDO LEADER by Patrick Gibbs Grub Street, £16.95, pp. 206 `Dammit, man, we usually do this sort of thing on the grass', said the Wing Commander to Gibbs when......