23 AUGUST 1975, page 18

Against The Crowd

Leo Abse The St. Alban's Poisoner Anthony Holden (Hodder and Stoughton: £2.75) You never seem to get a good murder these • days," complained George Orwell shortly before his......

Men Of Power

AL. Rowse The Cardinal • and the Secretary Neville Wil liams (Weidenfeld and Nicolson £5.25) Henry V. The Cautious Conqueror M. W. Labarge (Seeker and Warburg £4.50) ' Here are......

Old Chess Nuts

Gyles 13randreth Idle Passion: Chess and the Dance of Death Alexander Cockburn (Weidenfeld and Nicolson £4.25) As the founder of the National Scrabble Championships and the......