Britain Spare Pennies

The case that unfolded in Room 13 of London's High Court contained all the elements necessary for a topping midsummer titillation. It included charges of illicit sex, payoffs, skulduggery in high political places and a celebrity plaintiff. Small wonder, then, that hardly a seat was vacant during the 14 days of testimony and summation in the libel suit brought against the Star, a lurid London tabloid, by best-selling Novelist (First Among Equals, Kane and Abel) and former Conservative Party Deputy Chairman Jeffrey Archer. The charge: that the Star falsely claimed that Archer had purchased the services of a London prostitute. Last...