This week's @TheTLS, featuring Patricia J. Williams on Charles Murray's social Darwinism; Paul Genders on pop music and literature; @OldFortunatus on the RSC outdoors; @annielmcd on Sara Mesa – and more pic.twitter.com/VrQne0mo3T
— George Berridge (@George_Berridge) August 4, 2021
Category Archives: Books
Literature: The London Review Of Books – Aug 12
Outdoor Sports Books: “Remarkable Bicycle Rides”
The latest title in the bestselling Remarkable series, this is a fully illustrated collection of some of the most spectacular and life-affirming cycling trips from around the world.
There are the classic mountain climbs beloved of followers of the Tour de France and the Giro d’Italia, such as the climb to Alpe D’Huez in France and the Stelvio Pass in Italy. Gentler touring routes include the Hadrian’s Cycleway, which crosses from Britain’s Solway Firth to the North Sea following the line of Hadrian’s Wall.
For those wishing to push themselves to the very edge, there is the North Yungas Road, also known as El Camino de la Muerte (Death Road), in Bolivia; bike trails round some of the world’s most spectacular national parks, such as the Canyonlands National Park, and a journey through the forests and mountains of Transylvania.
About The Author
When author Colin Salter isn’t penning his incredibly successful “100” series (100 Books that Changed the World, 100 Speeches, 100 Letters, and 100 Children’s Books), he likes nothing better than taking his mountain bike out to the highlands and islands of his native Scotland. The author of Remarkable Road Trips, Colin has swapped four wheels for two in this global treat for all levels of cyclists.
Books: “Inside The Morgan – The Librarian’s Office”
Literature: New Editions Of British Author William Golding Out In October

Sir William Gerald Golding, CBE FRSL was a British novelist, playwright, and poet. Best known for his debut novel Lord of the Flies, he published another twelve volumes of fiction in his lifetime.
Faber celebrates William Golding’s work with the launch of new editions
Faber is embarking on a major relaunch of William Golding’s novels to celebrate these radical modern classics by a visionary Nobel laureate and Booker winner.
The first three titles – The Inheritors, Pincher Martin and The Spire – will be released in October 2021 to coincide with the Nobel Prize, with new forewords by Ben Okri, Marlon James and Benjamin Myers respectively. Other confirmed introducers include Kate Mosse, Annie Proulx, Nicola Barker, Bettany Hughes, Helen Castor and Stephen King.
Previews: Times Literary Supplement (TLS) – July 30
Previews: Times Literary Supplement – July 30, 2021
Architecture Books: ‘The Eiffel Tower’ (Aug 2021)
“The Tower is also present to the entire world… a universal symbol of Paris… from the Midwest to Australia, there is no journey to France which isn’t made, somehow, in the Tower’s name.” — Roland Barthes
When Gustave Eiffel completed his wrought iron tower on Paris’s Champ de Mars for the World’s Fair in 1889, he laid claim to the tallest structure in the world. Though the Chrysler Building would, 41 years later, scrape an even higher sky, the Eiffel Tower lost none of its lofty wonder: originally granted just a 20-year permit, the Tower became a permanent and mesmerizing fixture on the Parisian skyline. Commanding by day, twinkling by night, it has mesmerized Francophiles and lovers, writers, artists, and dreamers from all over the world, welcoming around seven million visitors every single year.
Based on an original, limited edition folio by Gustave Eiffel himself, this fresh TASCHEN edition explores the concept and construction of this remarkable building. Step by step, one latticework layer after another, Eiffel’s iconic design evolves over double-page plates, meticulous drawings, and on-site photographs, including new images and even more historical context. The result is at once a gem of vintage architecture and a unique insight into the idea behind an icon.
Literature: 2021 Booker Prize Longlist Announced
The 2021 longlist, or ‘The Booker Dozen’, of 13 novels, is:
- A Passage North, Anuk Arudpragasam (Granta Books, Granta Publications)
- Second Place, Rachel Cusk, (Faber)
- The Promise, Damon Galgut, (Chatto & Windus, Vintage, PRH)
- The Sweetness of Water, Nathan Harris (Tinder Press, Headline, Hachette Book Group)
- Klara and the Sun, Kazuo Ishiguro (Faber)
- An Island, Karen Jennings (Holland House Books)
- A Town Called Solace, Mary Lawson (Chatto & Windus, Vintage, PRH)
- No One is Talking About This, Patricia Lockwood (Bloomsbury Circus, Bloomsbury Publishing)
- The Fortune Men, Nadifa Mohamed (Viking, Penguin General, PRH)
- Bewilderment, Richard Powers (Hutchinson Heinemann, PRH)
- China Room, Sunjeev Sahota (Harvill Secker, Vintage, PRH)
- Great Circle, Maggie Shipstead (Doubleday, Transworld Publishers, PRH)
- Light Perpetual, Francis Spufford (Faber)
Montana Views: John Maclean’s Backstory Memoir ‘Home Waters’
John Maclean’s family was the topic of “A River Runs Through It,” the novella that became a hit film. Now, his own new book tells the backstory of the captivating drama. Jeff Glor takes a look at Maclean’s love for Montana’s great outdoors.









