But this writer subsequently fell out so resoundingly with the British Theatre establishment that it really is startling and fascinating to see Jonathan Kent’s major revival of this brutal epic Bond’s take on Lear’s story departs widely from the Bard’s. The core remains: a patriarchal dictator reduced to a mad beggar. But here Lear is seen building a massive divisive wall across his land and Cordelia is a peasant girl who becomes a guerrilla leader after being raped by soldiers and seeing her husband slaughtered for sheltering the outcast Lear. His ghost then haunts the old man who is finally gunned down, taking a shovel to the wall’s foundations.The writing has not aged well in all respects There are some crude strokes. Sharon Small seems little more than a two-dimensional caricature as Lear’s rich-bitch daughter, Fontanelle The final act also drags.

However, more often, the violence and injustice are powerfully depressing. Xenophobic barricades and imprisonment without trial are still woefully topical. The ambitious scale of Bond’s vision is thrilling and Lear’s crazed ramblings are scattered with poetic images, philosophic wisdom and surges of hope. Kent’s production has a potent simplicity, performed on a vast scree of mud, and Ian McDiarmid is a riveting Lear, both as a ferocious, ratty little tyrant and as a poignantly muttering old tramp. This is a triumphant reunion for him and Kent, their first since they left the Almeida, and I hope they tackle Shakespeare’s version together soon.’Hedda Gabler’: Almeida, London N1 (020 7359 4404), to 30 April; ‘The House of Bernarda Alba’: NT Lyttelton, London SE1 (020 7452 3000), booking to 18 June; ‘Lear’: Crucible, Sheffield (0114 249 6000), to 2 Aprilk.bassett independent.co.uk. It has already sold 18 million copies, spawned a mini-tourist industry and put the Roman Catholic Church on the back foot.

But if you thought Da Vinci Code fever might at last be on the wane, think again because publishing analysts are warning there is much more to come. American historians, international conspiracies and religious maniacs abound.The “Da Vinci clones” include the best-selling The Rule of Four by Ian Caldwell and Dustin Thomason and The Assassini by Thomas Gifford, in which an age-old brotherhood of killers is thought to be behind the death of a troublesome nun. In Robert Finn’s Adept, described as “The British Da Vinci Code” by the Borders bookchain, an antiquities expert grapples with an ancient secret and a ruthless killer.American bookshops are stocking The Third Translation by Matt Bondurant, which features one of the last great hieroglyphic mysteries, and Map of Bones, by James Rollins, expected here soon, based on a hunt for the remains of the Magi.Even the up-market Hamish Hamilton imprint, a division of Penguin more used to dealing with Paul Theroux and Zadie Smith, has got in on the act with The Geographer’s Library. Eva Khatchadourian’s son Kevin has murdered seven of his fellow students, a teacher and a cafeteria assistant. We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver (SERPENT’S TAIL £9.99)
Eva Khatchadourian’s son Kevin has murdered seven of his fellow students, a teacher and a cafeteria assistant. But he and his wife hope they have created a place where at the end of the year “employees feel good about coming to work, passionate about the work they do, and have been able to lead balanced lives”.The fact that other companies are taking such an approach suggests that there might just be more to being an entrepreneur to building up a business and then selling it so that they can enjoy a few years of leisure after a similar period of hard graft.. Not least because the immediate effect was that he had to buy out his business partner, and so produce the opposite effect on his back balance that had earlier been planned.

But that is an ability that is supposedly a stock-in-trade for entrepreneurs. And so far, Erickson and his colleagues seem to have been able to counter the big boys with their greater resources by being innovative. For example, when the record- breaking Tour de France rider Lance Armstrong – despite being a member of the cycling team sponsored by Clif Bar – opted to take sponsorship from a rival energy bar company unless Clif matched the offer, Erickson did not give in to the temptation to match it. Instead, he thought a way around it and came up with a sponsorship award for the riders who support the stars like Armstrong. Another boost for the little guy, you might say.Some might find the book a little emotional and zealous for their tastes After all, Clif Bar is based in Berkeley, California. But entrepreneurs who are set upon using business to make a difference, rather than just a fortune, will find much to inspire them.As Erickson points out, taking the step he took required a “leap of faith”.

Erickson has been inspired by his background in cycling, climbing and other outdoor pursuits to commit the company to environmental and social sustainability – in other words, to make a difference.This has, of course, required continuing to think differently. Like many before them, Erickson and his partner had told the company’s employees that, although they were selling the company, they would still be running it. There is plenty of evidence to suggest that, despite what is said in the press announcements, this rarely happens – and Erickson realised he was deluding himself. Especially when as the negotiations went on, it became clear that their tenure under the new ownership would be very short-lived.Most people in this situation, if they are worried about it, detach themselves and concentrate on how their bank account will soon look that much healthier – and what the effect of that will be on their families.