As beautifully written and as profoundly researched as all Julia Blackburn's work

A remarkable evocation of another time and another frame of reference

Julia Blackburn has an extraordinary talent for thinking herlsef into other worlds... Reading her book, you experience the uncanny sensation that you have somehow always known these places

She wears her talents like a modern Renaissance woman with elegance and affable ease

This is Elton at his best - mature, humane, and still a laugh a minute. At least

Only Ben Elton could combine uncomfortable questions about gender politics with a gripping, page-turning narrative and jokes that make you laugh out loud

A very funny book about a sensitive subject ... Ben Elton the writer might even be funniter than Ben Elton the comic

The selections from the greats are generous and well chosen