WILL STONE fact-checks the colourful life of Ozzy Osbourne
Scent of Empire: Chanel Nº 5 and Red Moscow
Engrossing juxtaposition of perfume and politics in France and Russia
JAMES CROSSLEY applauds a lucid biography of the German radical preacher who reemerged as a hero in the GDR
Prizes all round: the Bard hands plaudits to the Miners Gala, OT&JC, Joe Solo, Black Sabbath’s frontman and the Lionesses
Star cartoonist JAMIE BRITTON is in awe of a graphic novel of epic proportions that explores class, religion and globalisation via the strange cultivation of Ginseng in the US Midwest
GUILLERMO THOMAS is intrigued by a history of the Middle East that demonstrates how promising post colonial beginnings were snuffed out by Western imperialist interests
MARIA DUARTE recommends the intricate study of a high-performance and highly dysfuntional German family
KARL SCHLOGEL’S book is an intriguing history of the development of two perfumes in two different worlds, one of which is globally famous, the other almost unknown outside its homeland.
He begins his account in imperial Russia, where a highly developed perfume industry thrived in Moscow. They were led by two French perfume houses, Brocard & Co and Rallet & Co, with their head perfumers — August Michel at Brocard and Ernest Beaux at Rallet — working on closely related perfumes in honour of the tricentenary of the Romanov dynasty.
The October Revolution brought to an end this world of glittering excess for the few. But scents can survive revolutions and Beaux fled back to France, presenting his formula to Coco Chanel.
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SUE TURNER is appalled by the story of the only original colonising family to still own a plantation in the West Indies
SUE TURNER welcomes a thoughtful, engaging book that lays bare the economic realities of global waste management
SUE TURNER is fascinated to read of another miners’ strike of the 1980s, told through the voices of women
A book whose positive message and clear-eyed sense of purpose make it an inspirational read is recommended by SUE TURNER
