The Sunday Times
10 December 2006
Our choice of the best recent books

1: The Life of Kingsley Amis by Zachary Leader (Cape Pounds 25): formidably detailed biography that is both sympathetic and unflinching in its depiction of Amis’s behaviour

2: Having It So Good by Peter Hennessy (Allen Lane Pounds 30): the best narrative history to date of Britain during the 1950s

3: Ciao Bella: In Search of My Italian Father by Helena Frith Powell (Gibson Square Pounds 14.99): sharp, honest and richly comic account of the author’s search for her Italian roots

4: Decca: The Letters of Jessica Mitford edited by Peter Y Sussman (Weidenfeld Pounds 25): a funny, enthralling and gloriously honest collection

(C) Times Newspapers Ltd, 2006