Book review: Perilous Question, by Antonia Fraser

HISTORY
Perilous Question
Antonia Fraser, W&N
★★★★✩

IN A NUTSHELL
Antonia Fraser's vivid, impeccable and authentic account of the passage of the Great Reform Bill of 1832 paints a picture of tempestuous times.

Stage review: Sweet Bird Of Youth, Old Vic

STAGE
Sweet Bird Of Youth
Old Vic
★★★✩✩

IN A NUTSHELL
Kim Cattrall shows her star quality in a flawed but rumbustious adaptation of Tennessee Williams' study of love, loss and hope.

Exhibition: Visions Of The Universe, Greenwich

At the entrance to this new exhibition are four images of the Orion nebula. They represent all that this awe-inspiring collection aims to encompass - science, technology, history, beauty.

Film review: Man Of Steel (12A)

FILM
Man Of Steel
(12A) 142mins
★★★✩✩

IN A NUTSHELL
Superman cracks heads but no smiles in Zack Snyder's earnest and spectacular re-boot of the Kryptonite outcast.

5 key moments of the Royal Mint at the Tower

A new permanent exhibiton at the Tower of London tells the tale of the tower's little-known role as the Royal Mint between 1279 and 1812. The exhibition focuses on five key episodes in the Mint's life, as explained by Curator Dr Megan Gooch, pictured.

Spiral Notebook: Hard hat, hard luck, hard heart

This is a public service announcement.

I was minding my own business, as is required on a Canary Wharf bench at lunchtime. Then I was approached, tentatively, by a man in a high viz jacket carrying a hard hat.

Exhibition: Estuary, Museum Of London Docklands

If the capital is moving east, then the Thames Estuary is moving west. An unnerving thought for a city that generally views this journey's end as a place of damp and mystery, a repository of detritus and industrial skeletons.

Film review: Behind The Candelabra (15)

FILM
Behind The Candelabra
(15) 118mins
★★★★✩

IN A NUTSHELL
Beyond the sequins, the hypocrisy, the lies and the teeth, director Steven Soderbergh finds an unlikely tale of a very real relationship.

Stage review: Race, Hampstead Theatre

STAGE
Race
Hampstead Theatre
★★★✩✩

IN A NUTSHELL
David Mamet's muscular prose commands the stage in a world-weary no-holds-barred dissection of race in America.

Spiral Notebook: Money for old rope

I paid, as usual, for a coffee with a credit card. No big deal. In fact quite the opposite. A tiny one. £2.10. Used to be the case that the rule of thumb was anything under £10 was cash but now everything's plastic and no-one raises an eyebrow.