Category: Literature

A Column about Wellington

I am not done with Trim. Besides the cathedral with its Trollopian politics (see I’m a Believer?) two famous people lived just outside, on the road to Summerhill. Indeed my sister and brother-in-law live on that road too.

How To Be One-Up

If you are unaware that Shakespeare died on 23rd April 1616, that state of innocence will not last long. The Bard will be impossible to escape this year, like a virulent influenza. I propose to inoculate you with a small dose that may protect you against getting the willies.

School Stories

It is striking how many successful authors started off by writing school stories: P G Wodehouse, The Pothunters; Evelyn Waugh, Decline and Fall; Kingsley Amis, Lucky Jim, though it is set at university.

More Chronicles of War

On the evening of Sunday 29th December 1940, seventy-five years ago, there was low cloud over the English Channel and low tide on the Thames. Being a Sunday evening the buildings in the City were mostly locked up and empty. The Luftwaffe had waited for these conditions to launch a devastating firestorm on the City… Continue reading More Chronicles of War

Stocking Fillers

These are two inexpensive things I have come across this year that proved to be transforming.

Pickwick

At this time of year my thoughts turn to opening a bottle of something sweet. The approach of Christmas turns me into Mr. Pickwick.

Chronicles of War

Sir Alan (Tommy) Lascelles cropped up recently in a reply to a comment. He served as Assistant Private Secretary to George V, Edward VIII and George VI and then as Private Secretary to George VI and Elizabeth II, retiring in 1953 aged 66.

The Rule of Seven

Great discoveries have been made in a bath in Greece and an orchard in England. I make my contribution in the library bar at the Lanesborough Hotel on Hyde Park Corner.