. >> mary kay wilmers in your view who are some of the top british authors people should read? >> hillary mattell. >> she has written wolfe's lawyer and then the second part -- >> this call will fall. thank you. >> and she is writing a third volume now, and apart from that there was clear tomlin, any number -- martin, -- >> who are you reading right now? >> i'm reading a biography i just happened to have picked up in the office and it's a very amusing because if -- she is so opinionated about her father-in-law and it just reminds you of how the biographies were written 50 years ago when we gave his view a great deal of describing the character and telling of their lives and now you get a bunch more distance. lee is another writer. >> who has also been on the london series. we've talked with her. in fact several of the authors we've talked to have either written or talked about charles dickens. >> because the anniversary. >> his importance to english literature and lives. do you agree? >> yes, i do. >> if you could list one or two -- >> yes, that would keep me happy for quite aw

mary wilmers in london about her 35 years on the london book review. this is just under 40 minutes. >> our series from london on book tv continues this week with mary kay wilmers who is the founder and editor of the london review of books. what is the london review of books? >> of the founding editor that is not me. the founding editor is carl miller and he was asked to start the paper. but i was there. the london review of books is a -- it's very like the new york review of books to get it was started by the review of books in 1979, so there was no time to supplement. i was working at the times and stopped i think in january of '79. and then in october 3 papers cannot the seat to be causing time or maybe september. it was rather like the new dark review that started when there was a strike at the new york times. so once these papers came out within two weeks the times was back. so the other two eventually merged and carried on as the review. we appeared initially inside of the new york review of books and that lasted until may of 1980 and the new york review didn't feel that we were competing for the same writers i think. we carried on on our own a. >