Those requiring remotely useful information on the who, what and where of British society will be obliged to update their now dog-eared 1970s vintage editions - this new volume, while bemoaning the vanishing English Country House, has scores of entries for the would-bes, might-bes and has-beens of showbusiness.
No expense has been spared in researching the sons, daughters, lovers and sisters-of-cousins of the rich, the titled and the famous.
For some entries, the claim to fame is merely to have been born of the right seed (with, or without, benefit of clergy). Elsewhere, a meritocratic approach is evident, with the likes of Jamie Lee Curtis and some hundreds of other screen sirens, British and American, finding their way in. However, a Bourke's tradition is maddeningly maintained in appearing to favour some achievers over others, with little apparent regard for talent, longevity or importance. If nothing else, this gives us all a stick with which to beat the book, and adds to the general sense of the surreal and the dotty which characterises this distinctly British, and quite obviously insane work. Read it with relish.
A superb party game involves reading part of an entry, and challenging your guests as to whether the person concerned entered the Peerage on merit or thanks to an accident of birth. Skilled players edit their extracts to gull the susceptible. Enjoy.
