The world of paperbacks

Contemporary Review, Sept, 2004

This month's survey of new titles begins with PHOENIX which has brought out Liza Picard's Elizabeth's London: Everyday Life in Elizabethan London ([pounds sterling]7.99), the latest volume in her wide-ranging history of London life under the first Elizabeth, and Pick Up Your Parrots and Monkeys: The Life of a Boy Soldier in India ([pounds sterling]7.99) by William Pennington, M.C. in which he combines autobiography with a first-hand account of the Second World War in India and the Burma campaign. Also from Phoenix we have Nicholas Farrell's Mussolini: A New Life ([pounds sterling]14.99), the highly praised revisionist biography of the Italian leader, Midge Gillies' Amy Johnson ([pounds sterling]7.99), a biography of the 1930s British aviatrix and, finally, a new translation by Gregory Hays of Marcus Aurelius' Meditations ([pounds sterling]4.99), the distilled wisdom of the second-century Emperor of Rome and stoic philosopher.

Another new translation, this time of Dostoyevsky's 1868 novel, The Idiot ([pounds sterling]7.99), by David McDuff, has been published by PENGUIN BOOKS as part of their Penguin Classics series. This edition also has notes by the translator and an introduction by Prof. W.M. Todd and is a welcome and scholarly addition to this venerable series. A second Russian title is Anne Applebaum's Gulag: A History of the Soviet Camps ([pounds sterling]8.99), a devastating and highly moving account of the labour camps that were so essential a part of the Soviet tyranny.

Two other Dostoyevsky novels, The Brothers Karamazov ([pounds sterling]7.99) and Crime and Punishment ([pounds sterling]6.99) have been published by VINTAGE in its revamped and highly attractive Vintage Classics series. Both titles were translated and annotated by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky. Vintage continues its publication of Aldous Huxley's works with three more novels: Eyeless in Gaza ([pounds sterling]7.99) and Point Counter Point ([pounds sterling]8.99), each of which contains a short biography of Huxley by David Bradshaw, as well as Huxley's most famous novel, Brave New World ([pounds sterling]7.99) which has the same biography and a short introduction. Vintage continues its publication of Laurens van der Post's works with one of his most famous books, The Lost World of the Kalahari ([pounds sterling]7.99) and also publishes The Essential Hemingway ([pounds sterling]7.99) which has the full text of Ernest Hemingway's novel, Fiesta, the text of twenty-five stories and extracts from other novels. Vintage has brought out Ann Wroe's highly recommended Perkin: A Story of Deception ([pounds sterling]8.99) which investigates the rise and fall of Perkin Warbeck, who claimed to be Richard of York, one of the 'two princes in the Tower, and Peter Ackroyd's Albion: The Origins of the English Imagination ([pounds sterling]12.99).

PAN BOOKS has brought out Twelve Cities: A Memoir ([pounds sterling]7.99) by the late Roy, Lord Jenkins which traced the Euro-statesman's life through his involvement with cities as far apart as Chicago and Paris. Also from Pan we have Violent London: 2000 Years of Riots, Rebels and Revolts ([pounds sterling]9.99) by Prof. Clive Bloom and Hidden Depths: The Story of Hypnosis ([pounds sterling]8.99) by Robin Waterfield which was first published by Macmillan in 2002.

From ROBINSON we have a new addition to the firm's 'Traveller's Companion' series: David Daiches' A Traveller's Companion to Edinburgh ([pounds sterling]9.99), first published in 1986. This anthology traces the history of Scotland's capital through extracts from published diaries, letters, novels and biographies. The selections are arranged by themes and localities. A second new release is Tim Clissold's Mr. China ([pounds sterling]8.99) in which an American banker describes how one goes about doing business, or not doing business, in Communist China.

PALGRAVE-MACMILLAN has recently republished a new edition of the two-volume Armenian People from Ancient to Modern Times edited by Richard G. Hovannisian. This history of a frequently over-looked corner of Europe was first published in 1997. The first volume covers The Dynastic Periods: From Antiquity to the Fourteenth Century ([pounds sterling]17.99) whilst the second looks at Foreign Dominion to Statehood: The Fifteenth Century to the Twentieth Century ([pounds sterling]17.99). As the editor writes, 'these volumes do offer the reader a strong combination of research and interpretation by contemporary Western scholars'. Also from Palgrave we have What Is History Now? ([pounds sterling]12.99), a collection of nine essays in which academic historians look at current views of history.

Among new titles from OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS is a paperback edition of The Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs ([pounds sterling]8.99). This now established title began its life back in 1982 and here we have a paperback edition of the latest revision published last year and edited by Jennifer Speake. Also from the Press in its World's Classics series is the Selected Writings of John Ruskin ([pounds sterling]8.99) edited by the Ruskin expert, Prof. Dinah Birch. In her perceptive introduction she reminds readers of Ruskin's importance in Victorian life and thought and his continued relevance to thought today.