20 NOVEMBER 1999, page 54

A Bloody, Awful Year

Peter Vansittart NERO'S HEIRS by Allan Massie Sceptre, £16.99, pp. 248 I n his poem 'Nero's Term' Constantine Cavafy envisages Nero warned by Delphi to fear 'seventy-three......

Dreadfully Sorry About That

David Pryce-Jones FATHER/LAND: A SEARCH FOR THE NEW GERMANY by Frederick Kempe Profile Books, £17.99, pp. 341 ALONG THE WALL AND WATCHTOWERS: A JOURNEY DOWN GERMANY'S DIVIDE by......