Douglas Hurd: My six best books

LORD Hurd, 80, is one of the country’s most respected elder statesmen having served as Home Secretary and Foreign Secretary in the governments of Margaret Thatcher and John Major. His latest book Choose Your Weapons: The British Foreign Secretary: Two Centuries Of Conflict And Personalities (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, £25) is out now.

Lord Douglas Hurd s new book is out now Lord Douglas Hurd's new book is out now

Full Moon

by PG Wodehouse

Arrow, £7.99

I discovered Wodehouse as a boy and have been a fan ever since. This is one of the Blandings stories and it’s always made me laugh. The Blandings books are among the few stories I read and re-read because they give me so much pleasure.

Barchester Towers

by Anthony Trollope

Penguin, £8.99

Set in the fictional city of Barchester this 19th-century classic features a wonderful cast of characters such as the bishop’s wife Mrs Proudie and the much less attractive Mr Slope, the bishop’s chaplain. Another book I read and re-read.

Decline and Fall

by Evelyn Waugh

Penguin, £8.99

A hilarious book about a young schoolmaster who gets involved with a woman whose fortune is built on brothels. One of the earliest and funniest of Waugh’s books this is up there with some of his better-known works such as Brideshead Revisited.

Macbeth

by William Shakespeare

Penguin, £7.99

This might have the reputation of being an unlucky play but it’s very readable and easy to understand and has some wonderful scenes such as those featuring the witches and Banquo’s ghost. Full of excitement and a great introduction to Shakespeare.

The Jungle Book

by Rudyard Kipling

Penguin, £9.99

A collection of short stories, the most famous of which is about Mowgli, the boy who’s been brought up by wolves. A dramatic, beautifully written book which I vividly recall from my childhood because it made such a big impression on me.

The Forsyte Saga

by John Galsworthy

Penguin, £12.99, £12.99 and £14.99 respectively

A series of three novels published in the first quarter of the 20th century this is a wonderful saga about an upper-middle-class family that features such memorable characters as Old Jolyon. A brilliant snapshot of a certain period in our history.

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