11 OCTOBER 1986, page 40

The Empire Strikes Back

Christopher Howse THE STORY OF ENGLISH by Robert McCrum, William Cran and Robert MacNeil BBC Books/Faber, £14.95 T he placemat at a Beefeater Steak- house told me that the......

A Boy-zone Story

Christopher Hawtree 0-ZONE by Paul Theroux Hamish Hamilton, f9.95 61 t'll be a relief when I'm through with this one,' punned the author with a sigh as Starship Megabucks docked......