Old Friends And Modern Instances

In a delightful book, Nicholas Henderson turns the pages of a varied and interesting life, and remembers. The memories are mostly portraits, often triggered off by passing incidents. The subjects range widely: a Bloomsbury childhood, a prep-school politician in the making, indoor games with the Kennedy family, tennis with Roy Jenkins, a demanding fishing trip in Kurdistan, a ball at Chatsworth, conversations with Isaiah Berlin, the flashing wit of Mrs. Ian Fleming, lunch with Mrs. Thatcher, a Sissinghurt weekend, dons and writers, politicians and country people - are just some of them. These are not formal portraits, but snapshots, sidelong glances...