Roots crucial to understanding Howard

In Search Of Michael Howard, by Michael Crick, Simon & Schuster, €28.80.

Ever since Anne Widdecombe claimed that he had “something of the night about him'‘, Michael Howard has been routinely depicted by political cartoonists as Count Dracula. This may be more than a little unfair, but the Tory leader has certainly demonstrated a remarkable ability to return from the dead.

In 1997, he campaigned to succeed John Major and came a humiliating ...