Jeffrey Bernard
Nothing very intellectual here. My favourite book of the year was John Keegan's A History of Warfare (Hutchinson, £20). Keegan is without doubt the most thrilling military historian alive and The Face of Battle, plus his description of the battle of Midway in The Price of Admiralty, are quite stunning. It is to be hoped that Mr Keegan one day will do us the favour of writing the histories of the English and/or American Civil Wars.
The other book I enjoyed tremendously was Horsetrader (HarperCollins, £20) by Patrick Robinson. This is the story of the racing life of Robert Sangster. Nearly all books on the subject of racing are incredi- bly bad and boring. This is the exception. The Sangster operation in terms of money and in terms of the tremendously well researched aspects of breeding make this an excellent book, to be enjoyed not only by betting-shop punters but by city tycoons. What makes it still better is that Sangster himself is a very decent bloke. My most overrated book of the year, as always, is whatever won the Booker prize. It always is. I don't have to read it. I suppose this year's was won by a single-parent Eskimo lesbian.
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