Arts
Killers of the Flower Moon, by David Grann
The ‘Flower Moon’ is the term the Osage Indians of Oklahoma use to describe that time of year with a full moon in May when the plains around them suddenly burst forth in millions of [more…]
Literature
Animals
Larry’s Diary, Week Two Hundred And Forty-Five
Monday Good morning and hello from a not very happy cat this morning. I thought that Legohead was supposed to be going off on his holidays and I was going to have a nice peaceful [more…]
Journalism
Boiling Point
July saw a series of high-profile racial attacks with white people as the victims. Anthony Esan, a black man, was charged with attempted murder over the stabbing of Lieutenant Colonel Mark Teeton near Gillingham’s Brompton [more…]
Fiction
Those Who Play With Fire, Chapter Five
He left at 12.00, this would give him plenty of time to drive to Luton Parkway and change on to the train for the last part. The M1 was steady all the way, at junction [more…]
Fiction
Jinnie’s Story – Book Seven, Chapter Eight
On Monday afternoon Freddie, Nigel’s chauffeur and general factotum, dropped Jinnie, Izzy and Sir Nigel off outside the offices of Mann, Coombes and Company. Freddie headed off in the Rolls to the public car park [more…]
20th Century
Desert Fox: Erwin Rommel’s Photograph Collection
The Vietnam War started in 1955 and ended with the fall of Saigon in 1975 when the Americans left in a hurry. It has been described as the first televised war but a claim to [more…]
21st Century
Hatuwezi Ishi Hivi (We Can’t Live This Way)
Police brutality during the #RejectFinanceBill protests has shown us that while politicians can afford to sit back and wait for the 2027 general election, we the citizens of Kenya do not have that luxury. They [more…]
Book Review
Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis
Lucky Jim was (Sir) Kingsley Amis’s first novel published in 1954. It is the funniest novel that I have read I think, and contains many genuinely laugh out loud passages. Amis was inspired to write [more…]
20th Century
Report From Kenya, 1955 – Part Eight
In 1955, at the height of the Mau Mau Rebellion, my uncle John Alldridge produced a series of reports from Kenya for the Birmingham Mail and the Manchester Evening News – Jerry F Wally’s lion [more…]