A Life of Walter Scott, by A.N. Wilson (Mandarin, £7.99 in UK)

Compared with Wilson's excellent short biography of Milton this is rather a disappointment, especially since Scott's life was a full and rich one even if it foundered in the end into bankruptcy and sadness. He had much in common with O'Connell - both were essentially tribal chiefs who were also European personalities, hospitable, outgoing, hugely energetic, great family men, full of public spirit. Wilson believes that Scott's reputation as a historical novelist "rests on his commonsense realism."