Books in brief: Why this world | Aristrocrats | The Words of War

Published on Saturday 5 September 2009 01:10

WHY THIS WORLD BY BENJAMIN MOSER (Haus, £14.99) * * * * *

BORN in 1920 in the Ukraine, at the bloody height of the post-war pogroms, Clarice Lispector was brought to Brazil in infancy by her fleeing family. She grew up to see that country as her home, and in many ways could hardly have been more quintessentially Brazilian; yet, exotic twice over in this tropical setting, she remained aloof. Cabbala and Copacabana come together in extraordinarily adventurous works of fiction which brought to the realms of magical realism a special enchantment all their own. . Since she died in 1977, her fate she has been one of those writers who is revered rather than read. A grave injustice, Moser argues persuasively in this absorbing life.

ARISTOCRATS BY LAWRENCE JAMES (Little, Brown, 25) * * * *

LIKE the poor, they've always been with us – at least since the Norman Conquest, where this book starts. We need not necessarily share Burke's view that nobility constitutes the "Corinthian capital of polished society", but there's no getting around the aristocrats' pervasive presence and decisive influence in British history or the profound (if often subtle) part they've played in shaping our culture as it's evolved. James's sprightly study is rich in anecdote and detail, but the overriding theme is very clear. Our betters may appear to embody permanence and continuity, but it's been their adaptability that's enabled them to endure.

THE WORDS OF WAR BY MARCUS COWPER (Mainstream, 20) * * * *

"BACON, beans & Stukas for breakfast," recorded one British soldier in North Africa in October, 1942. "Jerry seems to have taken a personal dislike to us." Horror and humour went together in the daily lives of our servicemen and women in the Second World War, as this lively anthology shows. Drawn from the archive of the Imperial War Museum, it includes excerpts from British participants' diaries and letters home to create a strikingly immediate impression of life at war.