Peregrine Worsthorne
Class in Britain by David Cannadine (Yale University Press, £19.95). By far the best study of this slippery subject that I have ever read, most unusually making the case for hierarchy quite as forcefully as the case against. Cannadine writes as a historian rather than as a sociologist. Hence the book's exceptional readability and persua- siveness.
In Memory of England by Peter Vansit- tart (John Murray, £20). Of the many books now coming out about England and Englishness this novelist/historian's is by far the most evocative, impressive and enjoyable. Those who prefer their Britan- nia 'cool' will not appreciate it. But for everyone else — i.e. most of us — there is some idiosyncratic story or observation to relish on almost every page.
Dark Heart: The Shocking Truth About Hidden Britain by Nick Davies (Chatto & Windus, £16.99, Vintage, £7.99). There have been many books recently about the inner cities but none so harrowing as this one. Give a copy to your local Conservative candidate, or even local New Labour MP. It can be relied upon to spoil his or her Christmas.
The Last King of Scotland by Giles Foden (Faber, £9.99). A totally gripping account of life in Uganda as Idi Amin's personal doctor, telling us more about black Africa than even did Conrad's Heart of Darkness. The appellation 'lovable mon- ster' is often inappropriately applied. In the case of Idi Amin it is dreadfully accurate, as Giles Foden, with a vengeance, demon- strates.
The Western Canon by Harold Bloom (Picador, £10). Intended as a reaffirmation of the West's central literary tradition, this much overrated book, by one of America's leading professors of literature, struck me as more likely to put off than turn on new readers. By comparison, even Oxford's Marxist professor Terry Eagleton is made to seem sane and sensible.
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