Category: History

Money In The Bank

Less than ten years ago it was a good bet to put your money in the bank. Not on deposit, stupid, but in owning the bank by being a shareholder. OK, there were a few that bit the dust – think Slater Walker, Barings and BCCI, none of which were proper banks, but the real… Continue reading Money In The Bank

A Pinch of Snuff

My late father-in-law favoured High Dry Toast. Norman Murphy, an authority on P G Wodehouse and much else besides, likes Kendal Brown. I have just ordered some Seville. From 1720 until 1981 they could all be purchased at Fribourg and Treyer’s shop in the Haymarket.

All Change

Something strange and unexpected has happened to me. It’s as unsettling as the moment in An American Werewolf in London when the main character transforms into a werewolf. It’s actually so awful that you may not want to read further.

Lest We Forget

There were no poppies on sale in the Irish Republic in my childhood. The same ones were brought out each year, like Christmas tree decorations. They had wire stalks and a small black button in the centre with Haig Fund written on it.

Strolling About on the Roof of the World

Strolling About on the Roof of the World ( Strollers, to its friends) is the title of a book published in 2001 to mark the first hundred years of what is now The Royal Society For Asian Affairs. They have another centenary to mark this year.

Francisco de Goya y Lucientes (1746-1828)

The Goya exhibition at London’s National Gallery is well worth at least one visit. It shows his portraits in more or less chronological order. Various aspects appealed to me.

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Categorised as Art, History

The Man Who….

This post is about someone who wrote more than 170 novels, 18 plays and 917 short stories. In 1928 a quarter of all books sold in the UK were by this author. One more clue: this person wrote the screenplay for King Kong.