Quentin Crewe (1926–1998)

This is an unusual choice of book to review. It was given to me on a visit to the Saudi Embassy in London and, to be frank, I thought it was merely a 'vanity product' promoting the Embassy. I did not bother to read it at the time. I was a very busy chap then.

In fact, it is a short but very interesting architectural and social history not only of the development of a very small part of Mayfair but of the aristocratic mansion that was at the centre of successively Tory and then Whig-Liberal show more political life.

It is also a story of the rise and decline of the English aristocracy, of its use as the centre of propaganda operations against Austria-Hungary in the first world war, of the rise and fall of British business as Thomas Tilling's Headquarters and eventually of the Saudi presence in London.

All this in one location that was periodically transformed to meet the uses of its successive owners leading to its latest iteration as a sensitive and expensive restoration of a bit of British heritage with an authentic Arab feel to it in its new state rooms.

The quality of the book is probably down to the author being both an experienced journalist and a member of the Crewe family with access to family papers (the illustrations are excellent) and the fact that the late Ambassador Ghazi Algosaibi was a highly cultured man in his own right. show less

A landmark in food writing. Notable for introducing English-speaking audiences to the culture of the celebrity haute cuisine master. And in and of itself, also a fascinating snapshot of the nouvelle cuisine milieu.

Mr Crewe's first book; part travel, part musings on Japanese character and attitudes written only fifteen years after the atom bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki followed by American occupation. Mr and Mrs Crewe were not affluent, and necessarily came into closer contact with Japanese people than those in diplomatic circles. Through his efforts to teach English and to learn Japanese the author came to understand the profound influence of the Japanese language on the national show more psychology. His book remains one of fascinating insights as well as a perceptive account of the nation and its people in the late 1950's. show less

A travelogue very much in the British-centric view.