I'm toying with awarding a Worst Book of the Year to compliment the annual Book of the Year announced every January. A sort of name and shame. There are a surprising number of really really bad books being published. I say "surprising" because it's not easy to get published. My concern is that the Worst Book would be dominated by American academics. I foolishly thought American books would be give a fresh perspective from the histories written by the English Officer Class. Instead they usually turn out to be ill informed, muddle-headed, sloppily researched and nationalistic in the extreme. Though, that's not say that there aren't some pretty dire books from British and Canadian writers, but they are usually a better bet for a good read than their US cousins. But then again:- Any Fool Can Criticise; and They Frequently Do.