19th Century
A Bear’s Diary – Part 29
June 9th, 1811. At sea once more, we discovered that two of our crew had deserted, preferring the fleshpots of New York to their homeland and what will certainly be a more than generous reward [more…]
Literature
Authoritarianism
From Draft to Bookshop – A Journey
Almost two years ago this weekend my wife and I, rather nervously, drove into a small Devon village on our way to visit a family that I had only met through Going Postal but who [more…]
Arts
Roger Ackroyd’s Question Time Review
Question Time 4th July 2019 Panel: Tom Harwood: Nazi, Far Right, Criminal, Liar and Leaver (the epithets as appearing on the QT tweet line) Martin Lewis: Financial Journo Sian Berry: Green eco-loon. Remainer Louise Haigh: [more…]
Fiction
Joe Malone, Part Twenty
“Is that the letter?” Lady Vanessa asked him. She had been very quiet. But suddenly sat forwards and peered at the envelope. To Sir Marmon-Herrington Bixby esq. Which was normal enough. Though the word, WANKPUPPET [more…]
Fiction
Némésis – Prologue
In this work of fiction I have used the term The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) rather than the more familiar Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). The term Daesh (al-Dawlah [more…]
19th Century
A Bear’s Diary – Part 28
June 3rd, 1811. The city of New York lies in a broad river estuary whose wooded slopes give no hint of what will appear around the corner. The river is divided into several channels, forming [more…]
Arts
Roger Ackroyd’s Question Time Review
Question Time 27th June 2019 Panel: Caroline Flint Liz Truss Tom Newton Dunn Richard Walker Ayesha Hazarika Venue: Halifax First up may I give a hearty thank you to Flying Hippo for standing in last [more…]
Biography
Lieutenant Rory Stewart – Traveller, Soldier, Gentleman
In the year of our Lord 2002, a remarkable young soldier by the name of Roderick James Nugent Stewart took some good old fashioned shooting leave in Afghanistan. Upon his return to Britain, he documented [more…]
Fiction
Joe Malone, Part Nineteen
Sir Alan agreed with Mandelson. “Marmon has a file full of metaphorical green ink letters. All sorts of evil wished upon him.” “I didn’t see any such file in his home,” I told them. “That’s [more…]