Mr Brown, whose book on the recent financial crisis is out this week, urged "more imaginative" proposals.

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Never before have I been able to wrap my mind around what it meant to be a classical composer in the 20th century until I began working on a book about Samuel Barber (whose 100th birthday it is this year).

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Yet the Ehrlichs, whose own tone is disagreeable, have done little in this book to remedy that defect.

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However Mr Kreckeler, whose book of transcribed inscriptions of the vaults is mentioned in the plans, said this would be difficult to achieve.

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This article is by Ram Charan, an adviser to CEOs and corporate boards whose latest book, Global Tilt, will be released by Crown this winter.

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