Books of the Year
A selection of the best and most overrated books of the year chosen by some of The Spectator's regular reviewers.
Peter Quennell
This year I have read some highly informa- tive and one or two unusually well-written books; but amongst the most enjoyable has been the Letters of Conrad Russell, 1897- 1947, edited by Georgiana Blakiston (John Murray, £16.95). Not only do they reflect the writer's own enjoyment of human life in general, but they contain an attractive self-portrait, that of a man with a great capacity for friendship, his dearest, though not by any means his sole, friend being Diana Cooper, who particularly valued his affection. Conrad Russell also portrays a Privileged social world, leisured, reflective, well-read, that today has almost vanished. Whether in London drawing-rooms or on French battlefields during the first world war, he was a delightfully keen observer. He loved nature too, and produces some fascinating bits of natural lore — such as the important difference in taste between ducks' eggs that come from a farmyard and those laid close to running water.
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