Best of the Paperbacks

Factual

The Real World Of Spies,

by Charles Wighton. Spying is the world’s second oldest profession, says the author. Ever since man made war on man it has been a major weapon. Most of the famous spies that he deals with are, however, of recent vintage—beginning with Mata Hari and ending with some of the atomic spies of today. (Fontana; 80c).

The Indian Mutiny, By

Richard Collier. Interesting reading for all British school children who were brought up on the fable that the blood-bath of 1857 was caused by the refusal of Sepoys to use bullets smeared with cow fat or pig lard. Compiled from old letters, diaries and documents. (Fontana; 80c).

The Plague And The Fire,

by James Leaser. The story of London in 1665 and 1666 and the two great calamities of those years that laid the foundations of the modern city. (Pan; 80c).

The African Child, By

Camara Laye. A French-speaking African recalls his childhood in Guinea. Translated by James Kirkup. (Fontana; 60c).

Fiction

Don’T Knock The Corners

OFF. by Caroline Glyn. The author is the grand-daughter of Elinor, which may account for the fact that she is a child prodigy. She wrote this first novel while she was 15.

All about Antonia Rutherford whose parents sent her to a state school because it was free and the money thus saved could be spent on travel abroad. Antonia’s adventures in her blackboard jungle make British education sound like hell, (Pan; 80c).

The Radiance Of The

KING, by Camara Laye. This is an unusual novel by the author of The African Child, in that it is an African writer’s attempt to portray a European idealist in Africa. (Fontana; 80c).

The Year Of The Lion And

Gilltgan’S Last Elephant,

by Gerald Hanley. Two modern novels of East Africa, its human and other animals, and race rela tions. (Fontana; 60c each).

Careful, He Might Hear

YOU, by Sumner Locke Elliott. An Australian Prize-winning novel based on the bitter struggle between two women for the possession of a six year-old boy. (Pan; 80c).

Thrillers And Crime THE BLUE ICE, by Hammond Innes. Background is Norway, and the hunt and the skulduggery are concerned with jet-age metals. (Fontana; 60c).

Frame Up, The Cuckoo

Line Affair And Murder In

MOSCOW, all by Andrew Garve, who still manages to write ingeniously without joining the bash and sex brigade. (Fontana; 60c each).

Singing In The Shrouds

And Spinsters In Jeopardy,

by Ngaio Marsh. Both of which have had numerous reprintings in paperback form. (Fontana; 60c).

A Sword For The Baron

And Books For The Baron,

by John Creasy as Anthony Morton.

Why Creasey should write as Morton remains the biggest mystery of this series, whose hero is John Manner ing, otherwise known as the Baron. (Hodder; 60c each).

Miscellaneous THE BOOK OF FUB, by Michael Frayne. This is a collection of pieces that appeared in the author’s column in the Guardian. His writing has been likened to a wasp-sting planted in the fattest, most complacent bottoms.

He does, in any event, take on any one—from detergent ad-men to some of Britain’s most sacred cows. (Fontana; 60c).

Passionella And Sick, Sick,

SICK are both collections of carton stories, by Jules Feiffer who has had his pictorial crusades against con formists published in the best UK publications. (Fontana; 60c each).

SPECTRUM 3, edited, by Kingsley Amis and Robert Conquest; THE EXPERT DREAMERS edited by Frederik Pohl; and EXPEDITION TO EARTH, by Arthur C. Clarke are all collections of stories strictly for those who like science fiction. (All Pan; 80c; 60c; and 60c). (Overseas) Ltd., Sydney: and Hodder and (Our copies from William Collins Stoughton, Sydney).