... Billie Holliday Victor GoUancz, £18.99 Stuart Nicholson was on virtually new territory with the subject of his previous book, Ella Fitzgerald. But with Billie Holiday he is treading a well worn path, for she has been the most written about of all jazz artists and a film has been made of her life story. This is, of course, because she had a particularly tragic and self-destructive life. But, to ...

... Private life reveals a cosy domesticity COMPILED BY PETER HEPPLE My Life with Noel Coward Applause Books, £17.95 Of all the books written about Noel Coward, this one by Graham Payn, must register high for authenticity. Payn, whose own not unsuccessful theatrical career was almost entirely in the shadow of the Master, shared a large part of Coward's personal life as well as part of his 'family' ...

... The Lost Summer the Heyday of West End Theatre Nick Hern Books, £18.99 When I first became a regular West End theatregoer in the early fifties, the plays for which we put down our gallery stools to see were by authors such as NC Hunter, William Douglas Home, Hugh and Margaret Williams and, of course, Terence Rattigan. The actors we admired were Ralph Richardson, Emlyn Williams (who was also ...

... Michael Redgrave My Father Richard Cohen Books, £17.99 It may not be true to say that sons never really know their fathers, but there must be immense difficulty when that father is as famous as Michael Redgrave. Even though Corin fol lowed his father into the theatre, one suspects that he never really got to know him until shortly before his death, partly because he was not around for much of ...

... Performing Arts Yearbook for Europe Arts Publishing International, £34.50 Now in its fifth edition, this 600 large-page guide is indispensable for any performing arts company anxious to spread its wings over seas. It contains thousands of entries covering funding bodies, companies, festivals, venues, pro moters and agents for drama, opera, dance, music and puppets throughout every country in ...

... Scenes from Provincial Stages Society for Theatre Research, £15 This is a series of theatre research essays in honour of the late Kathleen Barker, who served the STR for so well for over 40 years until she died in 1991 though she was never a per former or director herself. The essays, edited by Richard Foulkes, are typical examples of the research carried out by the Society, the majority being ...

... The D'Oyly Carte Opera Company 1875-1982 Bunthome Books, £17.96 Books written by enthusiasts on particular subjects and published privately often have plenty in the way of facts but are short of style, making them irritating to read. But Tony Joseph's The D'Oyly Carte Opera Company 1875-1982 (from Bunthome Books, 55 land Avenue, Bristol BS7 9DX, £17.95) is a shining exception. Joseph, a ...

... Robert Atkins: An Unfinished Autobiography Society for Theatre Research, £15 The popular conception of Robert Atkins seems to be that he was an old ham with a propensity for bad language that shocked young actors at the time, but is now remembered with affection. Knowing nothing of the latter, my own distant recollection of the only time I saw him does incline me to the former. It must have ...

... Lorenz Hart: A Poet on Broadway Oxford University Press, £17.95 One can hardly tell the story of Lorenz Hart without coupling it with that of Richard Rodgers, and inevitably this is a book about the greatest partnership in the American musical theatre. It is certainly a work for the keen student, rather than those wanting to know about Hart's private life. There is virtually noth ing about his ...

... Chicago Jazz: A Cultural History 1904-1930 Oxford University Press, £8.99 History has it that jazz was bom in New Orleans and travelled up the Mississippi to Chicago, from where it was transported to New York. This interpretation is effec tively demythologised by Pro fessor William Howland Kenney, a jazz clarinettist himself, in this intensely readable book, which for one thing points out that ...

... Take a Funny Turn Robson Books £14.95 Tom O'Connor is one of the most underestimated of comedians. A former schoolteacher, as most people know, he was the first comedian to deliberately refrain from using racist and sexist material, several years before it was part of the manifesto of every alternative comedian. He was also a pioneer of the 'recollection' school, basing his act on his own ...

... Now and Then Robson Books £16.95 Roy Castle gained greater respect and love for the manner in which he left this life than for his achievements as an entertainer. Perhaps this is right, for no artist to my knowledge was, one can only say, a nicer person, invariably cheerful, polite to fellow artists and fans alike, a devoted family man, a tireless worker for his profession, the public and for ...