Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan told Reuters news agency that Beijing's plan was "a very serious turn of events".

BBC: File photo: Surin Pitsuwan

The middle part of the book takes a more serious turn and some events, such as King Edward VIII's abdication and the cabinet discussions of 1938, provide good passages, but the diary stops for most of 1926-36 and in 1939-44.

ECONOMIST: High society