20th Century
The Desert War – April 1941
April was a very busy month 80 years ago, Libya, Greece, Iraq and East Africa were all full of action. On the 1st, just as Rommel began his attack, there was a coup d’état in [more…]
History
Arts
Four Weeks One Summer, Part Two
St Ermin’s Hotel sits exactly, to the inch, halfway between Buckingham Palace and the Palace of Westminster. A four-star hotel and a Grade II listed late Victorian building, designed in the Queen Ann revival style, [more…]
Book Review
Book Review: The Age of Arthur by John Morris
One of the most controversial books about the end of the Roman presence in Britain and the Sub-Roman Britain which survived until the modern shape of a Britain divided into England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales [more…]
20th Century
A History of Pop Music Albums – 1986
A History of Pop Music Albums – 1986 Featured Album: Paul Simon – Graceland This is a series of articles looking at albums from 1960 to whatever year we end up in. I will select [more…]
Fiction
Jinnie’s Story, Chapter Twelve
Thursday and Friday were normal lecture days for Jinnie and she was mostly able to concentrate on her studies. Of course, rumours about the “accidents” continued to spread and the more the state-controlled media stuck [more…]
History
Rail Trails
More notes from 45 years of cycling In its day, Tinsley Marshalling Yard in Sheffield was the world’s most advanced railway-wagon sorting centre. It specialised in computerised hump-shunting, which is not a fetish category on [more…]
20th Century
A History of Pop Music Albums – 1985
A History of Pop Music Albums – 1985 Featured Album: Dire Straits – Brothers in Arms This is a series of articles looking at albums from 1960 to whatever year we end up in. I [more…]
History
Steeple-chasing
Whenever anybody says Britain has the best TV or the best health service in the world, I tend to bridle. I have seen a fair bit of TV overseas, and have found it much the [more…]
19th Century
Film Review: Far From The Madding Crowd
John Schlesinger’s 1967 adaptation of Thomas Hardy’s 1874 novel Far from the Madding Crowd should be a universally recognized cinema classic. Sadly, although it received generally positive reviews and did well in England, today it [more…]