“... itinerary is abstract, notional. One doesn’t move from place to place. Each chapter is largely self-contained, agglomerative rather than narratively linked. There are no maps apart from an imperfectly positioned and minimally labelled atlas on the flyleaves. In some sense, although this makes it virtually impossible to follow the journeys unless one has ...”

“... and his promise to retain a socially conservative Supreme Court, allowed the thrice-married self-confessed ‘pussy-grabber’ to win the votes of 81 per cent of white evangelicals, a cohort that represents 26 per cent of the American electorate. As Barnett points out, both the economic and cultural accounts of Brexit risk patronising those who voted ...”

“... media and public, such as Aden and Borneo; and then in Northern Ireland. With their aggression and self-regard, the Paras were not well suited to often hostile civilian environments such as Derry and Belfast. ‘In November 1971,’ Parr writes, ‘after a mother of eleven was blinded by a rubber bullet, the Guardian reported: “Undoubtedly the regiment is ...”

“... to be one.’ Lake agrees that the stage Puritan did much to form perceptions of Puritanism, even self-perceptions. A Northamptonshire preacher delighted in telling his auditory that godly people like themselves were caricatured and castigated by the ungodly as ‘saints on Sundays, devils all the week after, Saint-seeming, Bible-bearing, hypocritical ...”

“... in history.’In their subsequent careers the war artists often seemed to be at a loss. His nude self-portrait apart, Spencer’s reputation, for example, is more firmly based in the Burghclere chapel murals from the First War and the Glasgow shipbuilding pictures from the Second than on anything else he did. English romantics, encouraged and protected by ...”

“... ingrained in us now. So, positively, are Darwin’s demonstrations of how life works, how its ‘self-developing energies’ unfold, in that unobtrusive phrase from his diary which at once disposes of all that is supernatural and plants us in the world as it really is. Atomic nuclei are split, genes are inserted into or removed from organisms – such ...”

“... be that de Gaulle had the right idea. His notion was that Francophone Africa should accede to full self-government but, stopping short of complete independence, should leave defence and foreign affairs in French hands. The key point was that such a formula would allow these countries to continue to receive large amounts of French aid in every sphere, to stay ...”

“... meanwhile, would have been writing Oliver Twist. While Oates has a very nasty time, largely self-inflicted, Maggs is rescued by a serving girl who brings him to his senses: Maggs should give up on the worthless Phipps and go straight back to his real children in Australia; and he does, taking her with him – not for him Magwitch’s ignominious death ...”

“... most desperate imperial scare, could end up, reworked into fiction, actually bolstering imperial self-confidence. That reworking emerged from the same spirit that turned Paton’s sepoys into Highlanders: an enforced segregation of Indian and Briton, a consolidation of military and political control. The suppression of the mutiny ended the founding fusion of ...”

“... take up the distinction and declare that their volume will focus ‘on the representation, self-representation and non-representation, in literature, film and other cultural forms, of those who do write – manuscripts and memos, forms and faxes’. In these days of computers, with authors emailing finished manuscripts to publishers (and for all I know ...”

“... myself into seeing at Crinan. As Conrad knew, the sea will never go back to its pre-industrial self. In the long run, however, man-made imbalances will settle into new evolutionary equilibria, which may not be to man’s taste or advantage. Eventually the sea will win. In the shorter term, those who love it as much for what it hides as for what it reveals ...”

“... hidden last-minute talk between Chamberlain and Goering), the verse also conveys something of the self-contained world of MI5. There is no word in these diaries about any of the war’s turning points – Churchill’s takeover, the German attack on Russia, Pearl Harbor – or anything personal. Yet Liddell was a considerable man in every way. After winning ...”

“... of reference, the cartoonishness of some of his characters – and the unmistakable mood of self-congratulation. There’s also the fact that Rushdie has never mastered one of the most basic elements of storytelling, how to orient and grip an audience. The Satanic Verses was often accused, along with everything else, of being unreadable, something which ...”

“... work of Philip Webb, as of those Arts and Crafts architects who were his disciples. Austerity and self-abnegation are its hallmarks. You cannot relish Webb’s buildings without a feeling for puritanism. His was a life shot through with refusals: he would not compete, would not publish, would not join clubs and societies, would not marry, would not take fees ...”

“... attitude to life, unusual in a man in his late forties. The hero of After My Fashion is a self-portrait. Richard Storm has returned to Sussex from Paris, where he has made a name for himself with his critical appreciations of modern French writers. The first man he meets is a young painter, Robert Canyot, a traditionalist who thinks Richard far too ...”