Posted inHistorical Novel
The Great Passion by James Runcie
James Runcie recreates what it must have been like to be there when Bach completed the St Mathew Passion,
Posted inBrexit
Is The Pound Stopping Us Rejoining the EU?
The Pound is no obstacle to rejoining. Here’s the reasons.
Posted inHistorical Documents
Why Support the European Union? – the Schumann declaration 1950
A foundational document of the European Union still inspires.
Posted inUncategorized
Three Daughters of Eve by Elif Shafa
A book by a Turkish author makes me think about national identity.
Posted inUncategorized
Station to Station by David Bowie
The first rock album I bought was Bowie’s Station to Station. It’s taken me nearly 50 years to appreciate it.
Posted inUncategorized
Byzantium by John Julius Norwich
A three volume history of the wars, politics and intrigues of the Byzantine Empire.
The History of the Medieval World by Susan Wise Bauer
A breezy narrative covering a lot of history but not in much depth.
Posted inUncategorized
I Belong To The Brexit Generation
I was born in 1960 and so was 17 when Richard Hell and the Voidoids released ‘Blank Generation’. The title of this post is a play on the title of the song. It wasn’t a huge hit when it first came out and it hasn’t particularly stood the test of time, so I imagine you’d have to be about the same age as me to recognise my wordplay – and quite likely not even then. All generations have stuff that only they can relate to and the memory of which will die out when they do. I suspect Mr Hell’s oeuvre will fall into that category.
Parthenon Marbles – We’re Still Looking At Them
It's high time the Brits showed a bit of class and sent the Elgin marbles back to where they came from.