PositiveThe Financial TimesA moving, if sadly familiar, account ... The author of several history books, he relies on his memories and diaries, with a few accounts of other boys. This poses challenges: could he really remember how bad breakfast was in 1972? And his style is sometimes a little grand.
Tina Brown
MixedThe Financial Times (UK)... will be widely read because it’s very readable. Brown’s prose has the swoosh of an enjoyably OTT ballgown. Yet readers should not expect to be too enlightened. Some of the more interesting morsels, such as the view that the Queen sees Charles as too emotional and too materialistic, or that Ghislaine Maxwell once showed a friend implements with which her father beat her, are drawn from previous books ... But perhaps so much has been written about the monarchy that there is little new to add, particularly about the past three years. The \'palace papers\' referenced in the title are figurative, not some batch of leaked documents ... Brown is critical of the British tabloids that hound all those in the royal limelight. However stylishly, she too is adding to the circus.
Tom Standage
PositiveFinancial Times (UK)\"Standage starts rather grandly from the invention of the wheel itself. This seems to have happened in Europe, more than 5,000 years ago. Its associated problems are not new: even ancient Rome and Pompeii had traffic-calming measures. The story gathers pace in the 19th century, when the omnibus democratised wheeled travel and the invention of the steam engine, bicycle and internal combustion engine transformed it. This is great fun. Anyone who has not seen a picture of a Laufmaschine—the forerunner of the bicycle, which had no pedals and was propelled by running—is in for a treat ... By taking the long view, Standage shows how society does change radically. But reading his book, I was struck that the car era will not willingly slam the door on itself.
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Matthew D'Ancona
MixedFinancial Times (UK)\"This is an old debate [about strengthening education], and, although d’Ancona’s contribution is passionate (one senses the frustrated parent), it lacks the detailed evidence to offer a truly persuasive alternative ... D’Ancona is generous with his excerpts of other writers...Perhaps as a result, Identity, Ignorance, Innovation does not add up to a political agenda (it also sidesteps questions from the constitution to climate change). What I most took from d’Ancona’s book was his lack of complacency: his is a heartfelt attempt to renew liberal ideals for the coming decades. He cites and employs the principle of charity—interpreting someone’s arguments in the most reasonable way possible. How sorely our public debate needs others to express themselves similarly.
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Merlin Sheldrake
MixedFinancial Times (UK)... fits in a growing family of work that expands our conception of the living world. Compared with writers who specialise in mammals, birds, bees, octopuses and even trees, Sheldrake faces an uphill struggle in developing a connection with his subject. His efforts to overcome fungi’s otherness are valiant but not always convincing ... He does, however, successfully present fungi as counterpoints ... Entangled Life is itself a little shapeless; the narrative sometimes doubles back on itself. Nonetheless, it is laced with intriguing details.
