What happens to pop stars after their 15 minutes of fame – the ugly truth
“Pop music is supposed to be fleeting; likewise, its players,” writes Nick Duerden of “an industry obsessed with the idea of novelty”. But what happens to pop…
The scandalous Gilded Age female tycoon who became America’s ‘Empress of Journalism’
This was Frank Leslie, short, dark, bearded and already a household name – a highly successful publisher and pioneer in print technology. Soon Frank had abandoned his…
Think Magellan circumnavigated the globe? Wrong!
Typical is his description of the attractions of Brazil: “reputed longevity, abundant food, generous sexual hospitality, and women with insatiable sexual appetites”. The logs of Andrés de…
Rice pudding with Wordsworth and Wollstonecraft: the supper-club that tried to change the world
“Those who think much, for the most part, write little – those who write much, generally, think little,” offered Samuel Paterson in a collection of essays published…
Why Boris Johnson is still in thrall to Oxford’s maverick dons
One of the more potent ingredients stirred into the cerebral ragout that has produced our current Prime Minister is his classical education, culminating in four years at…
Is it time to forgive J Bruce Ismay, ‘the Coward of the Titanic’?
What would you have done? The ship is sinking. There’s a place in the last lifeboat, which has begun to be lowered. To remain on deck means…
Leering at Picasso’s sex life has overshadowed his art
When John Richardson died at home in Manhattan in 2019, the fourth volume of his frisky biography of Pablo Picasso was, according to his obituary in The…
From Diana to Megxit, a new biography reveals how the Queen kept her cool
Oh no, not another 700-page tome on the Queen, you groan. Surely there is nothing new to add. Well, it turns out that Robert Hardman has plenty…
Sex, rage and wigs: the baroque’n’roll life of JS Bach
It is, of course, perverse to write a novel about one of the greatest musicians who has ever lived. Johann Sebastian Bach is the voice of God in…
Inside the shadowy world of celebrity ghostwriters
Prominent ghostwriter Andrew Crofts – who has written 80 books for a range of politicians and billionaires, charging a reported six figures – was thrown in at…
Vivien Leigh and Laurence Olivier ‘the romance of the century’? It feels more like a tragedy to me
The next day, they drove to the studio, but Leigh was far too deranged to work – “Eyes overbright, she chattered ceaselessly.” One night, her maid rang…
Mud, leeches, eating your own dog: the ghastly truth about travel writing
There Allen is reunited with a dear friend of his youthful initiation-rite days. Explorer, he says, is actually, “a book about friendship – the value of disconnecting…
‘Mrs P read the lesson with a budgie perched on her shoulder’: how a vicar’s Covid diary went viral
“And there sat in a window a certain young man named Eutychus, being fallen into a deep sleep: and as Paul was long preaching, he sunk down…
Constable by James Hamilton review: vivid portrait of the old-school Tory who reinvented art
Characteristically, Constable declined the invitation to go to Paris. “Think of the lovely valleys mid the peaceful farm houses of Suffolk, forming a scene of exhibition to…
Buster Keaton by James Curtis review: brilliant, myth-busting biography of the king of deadpan
In 1917, Keaton teamed up with Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle to launch his film career, creating short “two-reeler” comedies for a New York studio. His ingenuity as actor…
The Gift of a Radio by Justin Webb review: a crisp, unself-pitying memoir of a ‘trainwreck’ youth
Unflappable. Humane. A presenter who “purrs along with superb engineering”. That’s how Justin Webb’s colleagues at the Today programme describe him. In an age of shouty politics,…
Magritte by Alex Danchev, review: the surrealist’s life is an unsolved riddle
All this is acknowledged by Danchev, author of well-received biographies of Braque and Cezanne, and a professor of international relations at St Andrews until his death in…
Does comedy have more to say about the human condition than tragedy? Just ask Mel Brooks
More broadly, by mapping out his progress in the business of foolery – which, as the adored baby of the Kaminsky family, he embarked on while still…
When Churchill’s granddaughter took him partying with Onassis and Callas
“Not another Churchill book!” groans the weary reader as this slim volume lands with a mini-thump on the desk. Even its author, Churchill’s granddaughter Celia Sandys, has…
The best new biographies to buy for Christmas 2021
Albert and the Whale by Philip Hoare (Fourth Estate, £16.99) was one of many biographies to cut down a big subject by yoking it to another. Hoare…