Hang on to your giddy knickers, because Tom Jones sure has a remarkable life story to tell. The problem is, he hasn't told it in this book. For over 500 pages of his first and only autobiography, complete with moody cover shot and stockades of showbiz photographs (captions include: my Rolls-Royce, belt buckle competition with Elvis, poolside tea in Bel Air), we get chapter and verse on Jones The Voice, Jones In Vegas, Jones The Born Again Bluesman and Jones The Sir.
With their catchy tunes infused with drama and their sparkling dance routines, musicals have had audiences tapping their toes and singing along since around 5BC.
Good, I thought, as I picked up this book - I may find the explanation for some of the weird things I have worn, or stopped wearing over the year.
Right-thinking people have long suspected that the vast majority of the pontificating political and economic pundits on TV and in the press are like Manuel the waiter in Fawlty Towers.
The Night of the Big Wind swept across Ireland, without warning, on January 6, 1839. The most ferocious hurricane in the country's history wrecked 42 ships.
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John Maynard Keynes is best remembered as an economist.
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This is a bouncing, New York-set comedy drama.
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Troubled wives and tormented vicars feature in these three short novellas.
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This centres on the shooting of a 17-year-old girl.
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This is a frightening little book.
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B. J. Novak has terrific energy
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One of poet Ted Hughes's many girlfriends was once approached by her landlady who said that she recognised her gentleman caller. He was someone very famous, wasn't he? Who did the landlady think he was, the girlfriend asked. Engelbert Humperdinck, she said confidently. There was always something of the matinee idol about Ted Hughes: 6 ft 2 in tall, often dressed in a black corduroy jacket and with a face like a hawk.
The latest news on the fashion front is that ST is the new FROW. Decoded, this apparently means that the z-list standing places at the back of fashion shows are desirable.
Wildlife cameraman John Aitchison has risked his life in order to capture unique glimpses into the lives of wild animals, spending hours waiting patiently for just the right shot.
That time of year has come again when six writers more used to the solitary life dress in their finery and attend the Booker Prize dinner.
Fired by Conde Nast, photographer Cecil Beaton turned his hand to designing costumes. Praised for his romantic vision, his outfits were worn by stars including Barbra Streisand.
The Roman historian Suetonius attributed to the Emperor Tiberius the statement that to lead the Roman people was 'to hold a wolf by its ears'.
Next month, it will be a hundred years since W. G. Grace died. But those of us who follow cricket with an enthusiasm that verges on mental illness are still fascinated by the old goat.
We think of clothes as one of life's harmless pleasures. They are as necessary to us as food (even the naked rambler wears boots and a hat). But at the same time as keeping us warm, dry and decent, clothes are the way we present ourself to the world. In the time that it takes to change an outfit, we can become completely different people - formal, glamorous, playful or seductive. And like good food, stylish clothes can bring a sparkle to a dull day.
Sir David Frost, who died two years ago in his cabin while preparing to give a one man show aboard a cruise ship, was such a dedicated entertainer and pundit that his face was always caked in make-up.
Sometimes a person can be so famous and iconic it hardly matters that we would be hard-pressed to enumerate or describe many of their actual superlative accomplishments.
For those who first encountered Billy Crystal in the 1989 film When Harry Met Sally or who, like me, go back even further, to the Seventies.
Matthew Syed writes about success, failure and the necessity of learning from our mistakes in his new book. He says that learning from our errors, not ignoring them, is important.
One day, in 1984, the teenage Dan Boothby found a book, mis-shelved in the natural history section of his local library, entitled Raven Seek Thy Brother.
The pages of Vogue have always dazzled with models in exquisite clothing, captured by some of the world's most celebrated photographers. The visual magic is the jewellery.
All this week, Labour MP Simon Danczuk is laying bare how the Establishment, the Liberal Party, the police and even MI5 covered up the industrial-scale child abuse of 29-stone Rochdale MP Cyril Smith. Today, how his victims were ignored and betrayed when they tried to expose their suffering.
In the finale of her unique inside story, Vicky Pryce, the wife of disgraced ex-minister Chris Huhne, describes life at open prison East Sutton Park.
In the second extract from her autobiography, published exclusively in the Mail today, Mary Berry describes the sudden death of the son she doted on, pictured left.
In his compelling new biography, Gary Morecambe talks about his father's relationship with Ernie Wise and how he continued to make them laugh even up until the end.
The star was accused of being a communist after allegedly telling banquet guests 'the Russian purges' were a 'wonderful thing'.
Jerry and Lucian had never quite bonded. While sitting for him she gave him cashmere jerseys, which he loathed. But worse, she had a habit of being late.
In an extract from his explosive memoirs, Power Trip, Damian McBride reveals how the former Chancellor survived by the skin of his teeth after credit crunch bungle.
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