Blair's a pretty mover

Alumnus to be proud of No. 100 is a novelist more famed for non-stop bestselling action than the subtle appositeness of his characterisation.

We think this view of Wilbur Smith is unfair, and base our contention on a brief character sketch in a boxing scene from his When the Lion Feeds (1964) which reminds us of someone whose precise significance escapes us at the time of going to press: "Mr Anthony Blair was next. His heart was not in the encounter. He moved prettily enough on his feet but always in the direction best calculated to keep him out of reach of Sean's fists".

Mr Smith's insight into the "what's in a name?" mystery may or may not have been acquired while studying for his Bachelor of commerce degree at Rhodes University, Grahamstown.