Against Gravity: the title alludes to our struggle with mortality as we age and, by contrast, the pleasures of play, imagination, creativity. Robert Saxton’s latest poetry book is dedicated to a friend whose heart gave out on a Scottish mountain. But in counterpoint to the elegaic, it offers humour too, often with dark overtones.

The subject matter is wide-ranging – from the late Queen Elizabeth II to the pitfalls of indexing, from Nero’s state theatre to trouser suits for modern brides, from a bat roost in a Portuguese library to the Hollywood Sign.

The book concludes with a visit to Vita Sackville-West’s garden at Sissinghurst, Kent, exploring intergenerational friendship as well as Vita’s visionary genius and unconventional love life. Wherever his focus falls, Saxton shows accomplished craftsmanship and an eye for telling detail, with surprises on every page.