For lovers of Alan Bennett’s plays (such as The History Boys and The Lady in the Van) and prose, this collection of his diaries from 2005 to 2015 will not disappoint. His gentle, self-deprecating humour and wry observations make it an amusing and enjoyable read, and that enjoyment will be enhanced if you know the English people and places he mentions in his diary entries. His comment on Margaret Thatcher’s funeral is bracingly frank.

My only problem is with the size of the book. It was already 523 pages, but the publishers added a copy of his play Denmark Hill, making it 736 pages – a very hefty tome!

Reviewed by Helen Owen