20th Century
The Death Railway
Most Puffins will have watched David Lean’s 1957 film The Bridge on the River Kwai which is based on a novel published five years previously by French author Pierre Boulle. Whilst both book and film [more…]
Articles by Going Postal
20th Century
In The Steps of The First Army
“Seven years ago today — on November 8, 1942 — Anglo-American forces landed on the coast of French North Africa between Casablanca and Algiers. It was the beginning of a campaign which could have been [more…]
21st Century
Kenya’s ‘Hustler Man’ Vs. Burkina Faso’s ‘Upright Man’
The differences in the performance of the “Hustler Man” in Kenya and the “Upright Man” in Burkina Faso is a function of genuine belief in transformational leadership, on the one hand, and mere self-serving populist [more…]
20th Century
Of Poetics and Politics
How do you like your Poetry? Richly allusive, with detectable rhythm, a certain musicality about it? Or do you prefer a stripped-down, unembellished terseness-to-the-point-of-inarticulacy, a Tacitean, telegraphic brevity? Whichever, preference is yours, would you consider [more…]
Animals
Larry’s Diary – Week Two Hundred And Twenty-Eight
Monday Good morning friends from your favourite cat reporter. I’m all set for a week of the scuttlebutt from the corridors of Number 10. I nearly wrote ‘corridors of power’ but thought better of it. [more…]
Arts
The National – The First Two Pages of Frankenstein (2023)
A friend and I, in an effort to broaden our musical appreciation, agreed to listen to and review albums we would never normally listen to. Due to the effort this involved, the scope broadened after [more…]
Fiction
Jinnie’s Story – Book Six, Chapter Twenty-Three
On the evening of the last day of the cruise, as usual, everyone gathered on the balcony outside Jinnie’s cabin for their pre-dinner drink and canapés. For once the twins were with them, Izzy had [more…]
Authoritarianism
You question my authoritay?
You know the game is afoot when the Prime Minister makes a sudden, last-minute, Friday evening, urgent announcement. Surprisingly – perhaps – nowt to do with GP & FF, but on 1 March 2024, Sunak [more…]
Democracy
The Somalian President Embarrassed His Nation
19 Feb 2024 His bitterness at African countries declining to punish Ethiopia for its Memorandum of Understanding with Somaliland made him a susceptible pawn to his controlling US outreaches, after which he irrelevantly ranted against [more…]