James Booth
James Booth wrote the biography Philip Larkin: Life, Art and Love (Bloomsbury) and edited Larkin’s Letters Home (Faber)
The joys and misery of Monica
This is not only an objective biography by a distinguished academic, it is also a warm personal memoir
Like father, like son
Philip Larkin’s long association with Kingsley and Martin Amis resulted in the poet being misrepresented and misunderstood
Sharing the pleasure in poetry
James Booth reviews ‘Somewhere Becoming Rain: Collected Writings on Philip Larkin’
An election without ideas
We need intellectual substance, not just idle gossip
Was she more than pie in the sky?
We all laughed at the former PM but her radical message might have been right
Blairism at its most zealous
The Labour manifesto is a recipe for bland bureaucratic managerialism
A misguided election briefing
The Church must recognise there are Christians on both the left and right of politics
Did QE cost taxpayers?
Claims that the Bank of England’s programme cost billions are a red herring
Prophetic warnings
Error is the joy of pedants, be the error serious or trivial
Why the election was good for Unionism
A diversity of voices will help rather than hinder the cause
Rosemary Sutcliff
A writer of genius, capable of conveying the feelings and lives of those who lived in the distant past
The case against “Zero Seats”
Despite everything, some Conservatives still deserve to win