Foreword by James Wolcott -- The wrong stuff: on Tom Wolfe, 1983 -- Diary: Operation Desert Storm, 1991 -- Oh Lionel! On P.G. Wodehouse, 1992 -- Mary, Mary: On J. Edgar Hoover, 1993 -- Say what you will about Harold: On Harold Wilson, 1993 -- Diary: The Salman Rushdie acid test, 1994 -- Diary: Spanking, 1994 -- Who runs Britain? Police espionage, 1994 -- Lucky Kim: On Kim Philby, 1995 -- Diary: At the Oscars, 1995 -- Look over your shoulder: The Oklahoma bombing, 1995 -- Letters: Richard Cummings, Christopher Hitchens -- After-time: On Gore Vidal, 1995 -- A hard dog to keep on the porch: On Bill Clinton, 1996 -- The trouble with HRH: On Princess Margaret, 1997 -- Brief shining moments: Kennedy and Nixon, 1998 -- Letters: Arthur Schlesinger Jr., Christopher Hitchens, Mervyn Jones -- Acts of violence in Grosvenor Square: On 1968, 1998 -- Diary: The "Almanach de Gotha," 1998 -- Moderation or death: On Isaiah Berlin, 1998 -- Letters: Roger Scruton, Francis Wheen, Mark Lilly, Christopher Hitchens -- What a lot of parties: On Diana Mosley, 1999 -- 11 September 1973: Pinochet and Britain, 2002

This collection of essays, reviews, diary entries and letters from the late renowned writer includes his thoughts on Salman Rushdie, being spanked by Margaret Thatcher in The House of Lords and taking his son to the Oscars