“... corridor between the Lambeth and Vauxhall Bridges. Sitting in the circular temple outside Terry Farrell’s MI6 fortress to roll a monster joint. Prison flashbacks were still raw. He’d developed a phobia about water. Surveillance cameras watched the scene with stoic indifference. Not a human presence on any of those decks and walkways, dark ...”

“... Classics has revived Podhoretz’s battle-scarred memoir with an innocuous new introduction by Terry Teachout, Commentary’s critic at large, who isn’t about to jeopardise his post by saying anything too jazzy or impolitic here. Given the long history of gangland strife between Commentary and the New York Review of Books, it’s gracious of its reprint ...”