THE GHOST

Robert Harris (Hutchinson, £18.99)

Much has been written about whether Harris based the character of Adam Lang, "Britain's former Prime Minister", on Tony Blair. Harris has admitted that the Blairs provided him with a certain amount of inspiration, but such conjecture shifts the focus away from how well the author has crafted this literary, political thriller.

The story is told by a professional ghostwriter, hired to write Lang's memoirs after the original ghostwriter, Mike McAra, died in mysterious circumstances.

Despite some fleeting reservations, the narrator, whose name we are never told, accepts a lucrative deal to re-write a stodgy manuscript in just four weeks.

After ghost number two flies out to interview Lang at his Martha's Vineyard retreat, the former PM is accused of war crimes and the writer finds himself drawn deeper into Lang's past and a growing political witch-hunt.

The confiding, rueful tone of this first-person narrative had me hooked from the intriguing opening line: "The moment I heard how McAra died I should have walked away. I can see that now."

The spooky setting, Martha's Vineyard out of season, is vividly brought to life, and Harris does not make the mistake of losing the reader in an unnecessarily complex uncovering of Lang's political past. The focus remains firmly on the ghostwriter's dilemma and Harris ends the novel with a bravura hat-trick of satisfying plot twists. Andrew Ffrench Helen Peacocke THE ART OF DRINKING f=Interstate-LightCondensed Ed Philippa Glanville & Sophie Lee (V&A Publications, £30) d=3,3,1Did you know that the Russians often add a spoonful of pepper to a pint of brandy and that Dutch nursing mothers today are still likely to be presented with six bottles of stout as its seen as a source of iron and Vitamin B? As well as amusing facts about alcohol, we learn that it has been used as an antiseptic, anaesthetic, preservative and a valuable source of nutrients.

Reflecting on the social history of drinking The Art of Drinking also explains how and why such a wealth of extraordinary drinking vessels, cork screws and vessels for beer and wine came to be created and how attitudes to alcohol have changed over the years.

The evils of alcohol are discussed too, along with the political and legal control of drink down the ages. This superbly illustrated book draws on collections at museums, auction houses, dealers and collectors throughout the world.