Book Choice - July 2016

"To cheer you this chilly hour Andrew Marjoribanks, Wordsworth Books, brings a bagful of good reads. With Downing Street much in the news right now, we chat to the brilliant social historian and biographer Anne de Courcy about her latest: 'Margot at War - Love and Betrayal in Downing Street 1912 – 1916'. Equally topical with Oscar Pistorius’s sentencing in two days’ time, Vanessa Levenstein looks at the unanswered questions in 'Oscar vs the Truth by Thomas Mollett and Calvin Mollett'. Sheila Chisholm keeps us on our tippy toes with 'Recollections of a Life in Dance' by Cape Town born, international Spanish dance authority, Dame Mavis Becker, while Beverley Roos Muller brings us back to earth with 'Promise and Despair: The First Struggle for a Non-racial South Africa' by former BBC journalist Martin Plaut. Philip Todres gives us a gorgeous glimpse into the first comprehensive history of fine art potteries in 'Scorched Earth – 100 years of southern African potteries' by Wendy Gers, where you’ll see even some of Philip’s original collection. Jay Heale links children to the unique sounds of Africa in 'The African Orchestra' by Wendy Hartmann and Joan Rankin. Peter Soal takes us to FIFA’s financial fixings behind the 2010 World Cup in 'The Big Fix' by Ray Hartley, editor of the Rand Daily Mail online. Finally, and not for the faint hearted, Cindy Moritz reviews the psychological crime thriller, 'The Teacher' by Katarina Diamond."