Book Review
East West Street
In 2022 I reviewed a book called “The Ratline” by Philippe Sands (Book Review: The Ratline). A book which taught me so much about Nazi Germany and the general history of WWII in Europe. East [more…]
Book Review
20th Century
Book Review: On top of the world – Mallory and Irvine
With the somewhat macabre discovery of Andrew ‘Sandy’ Irvine’s foot, still in its boot, on Everest last October – Mallory’s body having been found some years before – my interest was awakened in the vast [more…]
Arts
Book Review, ‘Karla’s Choice’ by Nick Harkaway
The children have a WhatsApp group where they conspire to buy me useful things for Christmas and birthdays. This is a big improvement on the old scattergun approach, where everyone either bought me the same [more…]
Book Review
Book Review: The Last Murder at the End of the World by Stuart Turton
The Last Murder at the End of the World by Stuart Turton is a masterful blend of dystopian sci-fi and classic murder mystery. Set on an idyllic Greek island, the last refuge in a world [more…]
Book Review
Book Review: An Immigrant’s Love Letter to the West, by Konstantin Kisin
When you live in a country, it is all to easy to see all its faults and shortcomings in horribly clear HD, and much of the national conversation can revolve round these points – what [more…]
20th Century
Book Review: Concorde by Mike Bannister
Introduction In response to Swiss Bob’s lack of articles, I have dashed this out, instead of a fuller version I had planned. In short, I heartily recommend Mike Bannister’s book ‘Concorde’, which I listened to [more…]
Book Review
Book Review: The Wrong Hands by Mark Billingham
Following on from the first book in the series (The Last Dance), The Wrong Hands picks up the story of Detective Sergeant Declan Miller, the flippant and somewhat unorthodox individual. The story kicks off with [more…]
19th Century
Book review: Custer’s Trials, by T.J. Stiles
Writing another biography of Custer (1839-1876) is, as Stiles says, a bit like walking round Grand Central Station trying to find a piece of floor someone hasn’t already stepped on. Such is the fascination with [more…]
20th Century
Book Review: Soldaten, ‘On fighting, killing and dying’
This book, originally published in 2012, is based on the discovery of transcripts of covert surveillance of German prisoners of war in WW2, found initially in archives in Great Britain and latterly in archives in [more…]