Books

Just when you’ve sorted your ‘gassed’ from ‘gaslighting’, along comes a new set of vocabulary to baffle. ADAM JACOT DE BOINOD reveals the new words from this year…

‘Dickens loved home, hearth and Christmas’ says Richard Armitage. (Image: Getty) Having played Thorin Oakenshield in Peter Jackson’s smash-hit Hobbit trilogy with a powerful northern accent, it’s slightly surprising to hear Richard Armitage’s deep, rich baritone minus the strong inflections of the dwarf lord. But then, the Leicester-born star is …

As this fascinating book reveals, we don’t actually know the truth at all. Much of what we think we know is based on an authorised biography by John Forster published in 1871. Fair enough you might think but Forster was Dickens’s best mate and only “revealed” what Dickens wanted the …

A Letter which had been used to show that Admiral Lord Nelson backed the slave trade is a fake, according to the author of a new book. Chris Brett, chairman of the Nelson Society, argues it was the work of plantation owners. They were trying to piggyback on the reputation …

Speedway heroine Fay Taylour: A forgotten trailblazer’s unseen tale (Image: Getty) She was hailed in headlines across the globe as the Queen of the Speedway, the World Champion Woman Racer, the Fastest Woman on Two Wheels. With her body-hugging sweaters and cascading auburn locks she was dubbed The Shapely Racer, …

Have you ever wondered which composer wrote his first symphony when he was just 8-years-old or how Roman legions were arranged? If you never thought about what Scratching Fanny was doing on Cock Lane or who the pigs were based on in George Orwell’s Animal Farm, then this is a …

Ware is following in the illustrious footsteps of Ian Rankin, Lee Child and Val McDermid as programming chair of the festival.   The world-famous event, supported by the Daily and Sunday Express and now in its 21st year, will take place in Harrogate, North Yorks, from July 18 to 21 …

When Ali Hazelwood first came out with The Love Hypothesis and readers just about fell over themselves I wasn’t sure it could live up to the hype. But, sure enough, I stayed up into the early hours of the morning unable to put it down; I reread it almost instantly …

There are few series that actually leave me impatient for the following instalment. Once Upon a Broken Heart has been one of the few to leave me itching to find out what happens next, so when A Curse for True Love arrived on my doorstep I dropped all of my …

Anton Du Beke has added another string to his bow (Image: Daily Express) In the flesh, Anton Du Beke is even more debonair than on Strictly Come Dancing. He may be dressed in a smart sports jacket rather than black tie, but there is an innate elegance to this man …