The Peter Thomson Five
The "five" refers to the British Opens that the ever-smiling, calm, all-conquering, suavely dressed Peter Thomson won. He was – is – a national icon, and while Tony Walker sketches in the biographical background, his book focuses on those Opens. In its detailing of the double bogey here or the ill-judged choice of putter there, it is one for the golf tragics. But there are other layers: descriptions of Thomson growing up in working-class Brunswick and honing his golf skills at Royal Park – the quest for perfection; occasional moments that ruffled the calm and, in one case, ended a friendship. Incorporating interviews with Thomson, now 85, the book includes a fascinating postscript, a newspaper article by Thomson in which he talks about yoga and, amazingly, suggests that the last thing a golfer should think about is his score. - Steven Carroll: The Sydney Morning Herald
Arafat: The Biography
Behind the Myth: Yasser Arafat and the Palestinian Revolution published W.H. Allen 1991 (Updated and re-published by Virgin Books 2004 as Arafat: The Biography).
Behind the Myth tells a coherent story...Walker and Gowers treat (Arafat's) ascension with skill and dispassion; if you want to understand Arafat they tell the story. - Daniel Pipes: Wall Street Journal