The very best of the Daily Telegraph book of obituaries - Telegraph Group Limited

A richly unpredictable medley of twentieth-century lives, a study in miniature, reflecting the last century at its most picturesque, poignant and absurd.

'Like going on an all-night spree with alluring strangers one has just met in a smart bar: unpredictable, vivacious, happy, with glimpses of a world of sumptuous elegance and hints of romance, but above all lingeringly memorable.' TLS'

'[Hugh Massingberd's] series of obituaries... have proved themselves to be marvellously durable bedside books , . His touch, both as an author and an editor, was invariably light . Although the foibles and eccentricities of the dead were often hilariously evoked (and the latest book, like its predecessors, makes you roar - shake - with laughter), it never nudges you in the ribs, never comes dancing up to you arrayed in cap and bells. It is in every sense a labour of love. An authentic Massingberd obituary never belittles its subject.' Literary Review