A most remarkable intellectual achievement. There are few books published in our time which more dazzlingly illuminate some of the most crucial problems of western culture and civilisation

Berlin expounds with idea of half-forgotten thinkers with luminous clarity and imaginative empathy... exhilirating to read

The most imaginative, distinguished and erudite of historians of ideas in this country

Isaiah Berlin has a masterly grasp. He is one of the most concerned liberal minds in Europe

[Its] lasting power to enchant lies not in a contrived simplicity of language - it makes no concession to the age or verbal dexterity of the reader - but rather to its uncanny understanding of the adult within every child

'The child who has never run with Mowgli's wolf pack . . . has missed something that he will not get from any other writer

The Just So Stories and The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling have always held a fascination for me, and doubtless sparked off my love of India

Rudyard Kipling is a writer for our times, and for all time

Around a century ago, Rudyard Kipling laid the foundations of modern children's literature with works such as The Jungle Book, Just So Stories and Puck of Pook's Hill. Far from the fusty Victorian conventions of the time, they were wild, magnificent stories that felt as though they'd always existed, stories people might have told each other in the caves

A must read

Charming and quirky

Definitely one to watch

Hudson’s ear for language…raises this debut novel well above the average

Janie’s irrepressible, childish glee and the sly humour into which it evolves give the novel a wry self-awareness that is both refreshing and endearing

A gripping, often hilarious tale of growing up in the slums of Aberdeen. Hard to put down owing to the power of the narrative, its DNA is part Roddy Doyle/part Irvine Welsh

A sumptuous novel. Read it for the sentences and smarts, and for the copious sexy parts

Everything I want from a love story: sexy, convincing, baffling, funny, sad and unforgettable

Banville's exquisitely written novel unravels the deceptions of memory with wit and pathos