28 SEPTEMBER 1996, page 50

A High-flying Wasp

Nicholas Henderson THE LAST AMERICAN ARISTOCRAT by Nelson D. Lankford Little, Brown, £17.50, pp. 484 D avid Bruce occupied a greater num- ber of important diplomatic posts than......

A Certain Amount Of Original Sin

James Lees-Milne A GENTLEMAN PUBLISHER'S COMMONPLACE BOOK edited by John G. Murray John Murray, f9.95, pp. 119 M r John Murray I's publishing firm was established in 1768. It is......

Pervasive Fear Of The Unknown

John Fowles BRIGHT PARADISE: VICTORIAN SCIENTIFIC TRAVELLERS by Peter Raby Chatto, f20, pp. 276 W hen I was a suburban schoolboy in the 1930s I was an avid reader of Talbot......