21st Century
Return to the Inferno
Set thirty years in the future As I reclined upon a heavenly cloud, Imbibing a celestial Chianti, I heard a voice crying my name aloud; ‘Twas Virgil in his toga, calling, ‘Dante, There’s work to [more…]
Articles by Tachybaptus
16th Century
The Troubled History of the Potato
The potato is a native of the high Andes, a low-growing plant (Solanum tuberosum) with pretty purple flowers and round black fruits. To survive in its harsh environment it has evolved the habit of growing [more…]
20th Century
Car Review: Renault Type AI Sport CT
It was after the third accident in the pony trap going down Pitsford Hill that my wife said to me, ‘We really ought to buy a motor car. After all, this is 1910 and we [more…]
19th Century
I never meant to write a novel
Today A Bear’s Diary is published as a hardback. It has been available as an ebook for a couple of months. It’s a shortish novel at 65,000 words, decorated with old engravings which give it [more…]
21st Century
Boris, how dare you?
Locking our people into subjugation, Ruining businesses throughout the nation, Stealing the future of a generation, Boris, how dare you? Carrie instructs him, he obeys with gladness, Plunging us into zero carbon madness, So we [more…]
21st Century
Fred and Doris
Doris said, ‘I heard on the BBC that us old folk are going to be confined to barracks because of that virus. They said it’s for our own safety,’ Doris was 83 and her husband [more…]
21st Century
Pandora’s Bug
How long ago it seems! But it is barely four years since I was a senior researcher at Porton Down, sitting on a shiny chair at a varnished desk and tapping the delicate keyboard of [more…]
21st Century
Kazoo Solo
with acknowledgements to Louis MacNeice’s ‘Bagpipe Music’ It’s no go Jeremy, it’s no go the commies, But all we’ve got is a dodgy deal served up to us by Boris. It’s no go the EU, [more…]
19th Century
When Popes Took Coke
The rise and fall of coca wine Coca leaves have been used as a stimulant in South America for over a thousand years, especially in the Andes to overcome the fatigue of living and working [more…]