A Riddle Wrapped in a Mystery

‘Begin at the beginning,’ the King said gravely. And ‘go on till you come to the end; and then stop.’ (Alice in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll)

Travels with My Otter

A reader, John Tuffin, recommended Douglas Botting’s biography of Gavin Maxwell when there was an ottery post in August.

The Big Shave

Yesterday, on a rainy Saturday afternoon in London, I went to see Martin Scorsese’s latest at the very comfy cinema within the Riverside Studios.

From Jefferson to Blinken

We live in a democracy, others, poor things, live in totalitarian states governed by Fascists, Communists and the rest.

Published
Categorised as Politics

Gold Run

I remember enjoying the 1995 film version of Richard III with Ian McKellen as the Duke of Gloucester, later the eponymous king.

A Dear Old Fashioned Irish House

I have been re-arranging some books to make more room for biography and fiction and came across this niche memoir published in 1932 by J Catherall & Co (Printers) Ltd in Hexham.

Published
Categorised as Family

From A to Z

“Stop the world I want to get off’ – it’s the title of a 1961 musical – and it’s what I’d like to do sometimes.

Allenby’s Entry into Jerusalem

I cannot improve on John D Grainger’s account of Allenby’s entry into Jerusalem extracted from The Battle for Palestine 1917, published in 2006.

Published
Categorised as History