The Herald - The Herald Magazine
Old secrets,
Hendrix plummeted with a speed that outpaced most, though.
Four years on from his expectant arrival in London, he was carried, probably already dead, in an ambulance to hospital. As Norman astutely points out, the distance between those two points may be brief in time but it was huge in terms of his contribution to popular music. Hendrix had captivated fans, entranced his peers and placed a strong imprint on the most revolutionary art form of its time.
He produced two classic albums (Are You Experienced and Electric
GEMMA McLAUGHLIN nothing more than to leave it all behind with the girl she loves.
Who is it aimed at?
Teenagers.
Ladyland), electrified both the Woodstock and Monterrey festivals and came to embody a style that was flamboyant yet deeply significant in that he pushed what was acceptable or traditional even in rock music. He was poised to develop his work with Miles Davis in what would have been, at least, a fascinating collaboration.
But everything stopped on a dank September day. Norman has clarified much but there is a mass of substance that still lies unscrutinised amid the blare of feedback, the incontinent mayhem of fame and the smoke of a burning guitar.
What was your favourite part?
Welbeck, £8.99
When the normally surefooted Maria Morrison falls down Edinburgh’s Fleshmarket Close steps and winds up comatose, her journalist husband Chris is devastated. But his worries only worsen when his attempts to contact their globetrotting daughter Ruth come to nothing. It dawns on him that, despite regular posts appearing on social media, Ruth has been missing for months without them realising. Fearing for his wife’s life, Chris starts to look into both occurrences, wondering if they might be connected. He quickly finds reason to suspect that Maria’s fall was no accident, but investigating further will mean opening up a family history of painful memories and well-kept secrets. In her first novel, Christie shows that she’s already learned how to reel readers in from page one and keep them hooked, setting up an intriguing mystery.
THE ANARCHY William Dalrymple
Bloomsbury, £10.99
In a cautionary tale that feels more relevant now than ever before, William Dalrymple relates the disturbing story of how the rapacious, opportunistic East India Company transformed itself from a humble trading company into a monolithic political power with its own standing army. The period following the collapse of the Mughal Empire in the early 18th century was known as “the Anarchy”, and the
East India Company, while enjoying the greatest success, was far from the only player. Dalrymple delivers an accessible, character-driven account of the rise of the EIC in the context of the situation in India at the time, highlighting the interests of the Mughal nobles and combing Indian archives for contemporary perspectives, while tearing down some schoolboy myths along the way. As well as being a broad overview of the British presence in India in the 18th century, it acts as a warning of the potential dangers posed by presentday multinationals.
KREMLIN WINTER Robert Service
Picador, £10.99
Having previously written biographies of Lenin, Stalin, Trotsky and Tsar Nicholas II, Robert Service is well-versed in Russian politics, and this study of Vladimir Putin and how Russia has fared under his rule challenges some of the assumptions that have grown up around him, both domestically and internationally. Putin’s ability to make the Russian people feel proud again after a traumatic century sweetens a system based on a network of oligarchs, kleptocrats and old KGB buddies reliant on patronage, under which little in Russia has actually changed. In fact, Service presents Putin as being as much a prisoner of the system he presides over as its “jailer”. There are inevitable omissions and bones of contention that commentators will gnaw at for years, but Service’s understanding of Russia has allowed him to poke holes in Putin’s carefully constructed public persona, offering glimpses of the flaws and weaknesses of a rule that’s widely considered unassailable.
ALASTAIR MABBOTT