In the time of Covid

On page 23 of this supplement, William Cook wonders what the author John Wyndham might have made of Covid. Cook writes that the outbreak of the pandemic had much in common with his apocalyptic novels. I imagine that Covid may well be responsible for an outbreak of virus-related novels in the near future. Not to mention diaries: I admit that I have kept a daily one (certainly not for publication because it is extraordinarily boring and repetitive).

The best political diarists of the 20th century – Chips Channon, Harold Nicolson (a new edition of his diaries is expected), Alan Clark – were never at the very heart of power, but were sharp observers of the main players; they also understood that dullness was the worst crime of all. And the best in the 21st century? The historian Simon Heffer, himself no slouch in the diary department (his new unexpurgated, over 1,000-page edition of Chips Channon’s diary was reviewed in last month’s Oldie), believes that Sasha Swire’s diaries (review, The Oldie, November 2020) will become an essential point of reference for those wanting to understand the David Cameron age. So I wonder who will be the best political chronicler of the Covid years? Not the man at the centre, Boris Johnson, but maybe someone lurking and watching in Downing Street or in the House of Commons. Close to the PM, but not too close…

Away from Covid, there is much to enjoy inside this supplement. Marilynne Robinson’s long-awaited fourth novel in the Gilead series is reviewed, along with Lauren Oyler’s ‘brilliant comic novel’. Margaret Macmillan’s history of war, though short, is described as ‘colourful and tightly woven as a Persian carpet’. In the biography section Keats, Dickens, David Attenborough and Mary Wollstonecraft feature. And if you want something completely different have a read of the reviews on three entertainers: Cary Grant, John Cooper Clarke and Cliff Richard…