Six to Follow

Robin Oakley, for many years BBC Political Editor and then, until 2008, European Political Editor for CNN writes a column, The Turf, in The Spectator. He recommends twelve to follow twice a year; twelve jumpers and twelve on the flat.

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The Invention of Memory

I was given The Invention of Memory for Christmas three years ago by Alan Higgs. It is by Simon Loftus and traces the story of his family from their arrival in Ireland in 1560 until Mount Loftus burned down in 1934.

Charing Cross Revisited

I took a tumble on Thursday and didn’t feel at all well yesterday. In fact I tottered into the A&E at Charing Cross Hospital in the evening to see if they could patch me up.

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In Translation

I am reading, in translation, Joseph Roth’s novella, The Legend of the Holy Drinker, translated and introduced by Wykehamist, Michael Hofmann.

Globalisation

Is globalisation good, bad or inevitable? It should be good. It should provide jobs and raise living standards in developing (euphemism for poor) countries.

Grecian Bronzes

Attitudes to recycling have changed beyond recognition in my lifetime. When I was a child we never picked up used cartridge cases – they had cardboard cases and nobody bothered about the metal caps.

Incense and Truffles

Macbeth; Act I: First Witch … her husband’s to Aleppo gone … On Good Friday in 2000 I didn’t pay for a ticket on the Heathrow Express and I wasn’t a fare dodger. I went to the wrong terminal and there was no charge to take the train between terminals. I just caught the direct BA… Continue reading Incense and Truffles

St Yeghichè and St Cyprian

In a dictatorship when said dictator wants to impose his will he issues a Presidential Decree and at a stroke the dictator’s whim is law.   In the UK there are democratic elections and two chambers in parliament to debate and scrutinise legislation. That is unless something is too trivial to detain our politicians, such… Continue reading St Yeghichè and St Cyprian