21 SEPTEMBER 1996, page 54

Restored To Glory

David Ekserdjian MASACCIO by John T. Spike Abbeville/John Murray, £72, pp. 256 T he cleaning of the Sistine Chapel ceil- ing was without question the most talked about......

Not Much Of The Nice And The Good

John Whitworth THE MIDDEN by Tom Sharpe Secker & Warburg, L15.99, pp. 245 I have an affection for Tom Sharpe. My writing career began at Seeker Warburg, and it was the profits......

And If Thou Wilt, Remember

David Montrose DISTANCE by Colin Thubron Heinemann, f15.99, pp. 218 T he protagonists of Colin Thubron's more recent novels — A Cruel Madness (1984), Falling (1989), and Turning......