Francis King
Fettered by the Multiplicity of His Talents
Harold Nicolson
By Norman Rose
Jonathan Cape 374pp £20
Bereft of his wife of more than forty years and physically and mentally disintegrating, Harold Nicolson came to the conclusion that his life had been a failure. On entering the Diplomatic Service, he had been tipped as a future ambassador. But after little more than twenty years, a combination of boredom, the refusal of Vita Sackville-West to accompany him abroad, and the resentment of his colleagues at his fatal tendency to speak and even write irreverently about them persuaded him that he was getting nowhere, and he resigned.
Nicolson opted for a lucrative career in journalism in the employ of the often bullying Lord Beaverbrook, but soon found that he still craved a public role and turned to politics. Having mistakenly persuaded himself that he was a socialist, he was eventually elected as a National Labour MP. He
Sign Up to our newsletter
Receive free articles, highlights from the archive, news, details of prizes, and much more.@Lit_Review
Follow Literary Review on Twitter
Twitter Feed
Knowledge of Sufism increased markedly with the publication in 1964 of The Sufis, by Idries Shah. Nowadays his writings, much like his father’s, are dismissed for their Orientalism and inaccuracy.
@fitzmorrissey investigates who the Shahs really were.
Fitzroy Morrissey - Sufism Goes West
Fitzroy Morrissey: Sufism Goes West - Empire’s Son, Empire’s Orphan: The Fantastical Lives of Ikbal and Idries Shah by Nile Green
literaryreview.co.uk
Rats have plagued cities for centuries. But in Baltimore, researchers alighted on one surprising solution to the problem of rat infestation: more rats.
@WillWiles looks at what lessons can be learned from rat ecosystems – for both rats and humans.
Will Wiles - Puss Gets the Boot
Will Wiles: Puss Gets the Boot - Rat City: Overcrowding and Urban Derangement in the Rodent Universes of John B ...
literaryreview.co.uk
Twisters features destructive tempests and blockbuster action sequences.
@JonathanRomney asks what the real danger is in Lee Isaac Chung's disaster movie.
https://literaryreview.co.uk/eyes-of-the-storm