Ross Clark
The most entertaining tale of the year was contained within the pages of Radar at Sea: The Royal Navy in World War II by Derek Howse (Macmillan, £25). Apparently our defences against German guided missiles during the second world war consisted almost entirely of electric razors. A naval scientist discovered the razor's ability to disrupt the guiding mechanism when he started to shave one morning, oblivious to the fact that his ship was under attack. Sailors watched in amazement as the missile did an about turn and headed for the German plane from which it had been fired. The Admiralty Signal Establishment duly ordered crews' razors to be requisi- tioned.
I enjoyed Alan Clark's diaries, too; not so much for the womanising and back- stabbing as for the disdainful manner he took to his duties as a junior government minister in 1983.
As for the most overrated books of the year, try respective volumes by Madonna, Julie Burchill and Camille Paglia. The publishing industry seems to need these people like Victorian fairs needed their freaks. The only difference is that we live in an egalitarian age: the freaks get paid.
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