Via Jude the Obscure and Hovis No-one knows exactly when, but around the year 888, Alfred the great king of the Anglo-Saxons founded an abbey and set up his daughter Æthelgifu there as Abbess. It became in time a powerful institution, home to several memorable and influential English women. And at one stage it was… Continue reading King Alfred to Alien
Author: simongardner344
“Consider the birds of the air…”
12 Birds to Save Your Life: nature’s lessons in happiness by Charlie Corbett (Michael Joseph, 2021) This is a book to make you stop, watch, listen and allow encounters with the natural world to calm you, teach you, heal you, delight you. Charlie Corbett tells the personal and at times painful story of family tragedy,… Continue reading “Consider the birds of the air…”
We are here because you were there.
Sathnam Sanghera, Empireland: How Imperialism Has Shaped Modern Britain (Penguin 2021) Sanghera is a British Sikh writer whose parents emigrated to Britain from the Punjab. Or to put it another way, the author is as British as anyone else. Yet the experience of living in multicultural Britain is – for those whose families were from… Continue reading We are here because you were there.
Fabulous Creations – Vanishing Worlds
Roger Lytollis, “PANIC AS MAN BURNS CRUMPETS”: The Vanishing World of the Local Journalist (Robinson 2021) David Hepworth, A Fabulous Creation: How the LP Saved Our Lives (Penguin, Random House 2019) I can remember the frisson of walking home from the record shop with Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon under one arm. There… Continue reading Fabulous Creations – Vanishing Worlds
Morsels of the Night Sky
Book Review: A History of the Universe in 100 Stars by Florian Freistetter (Quercus 2021 – English translation from the 2019 original German edition) This title is surely a winner, and indeed this book is acclaimed an International Bestseller. What could be better than a comprehensible history of the universe, told in bite-sized chapters each… Continue reading Morsels of the Night Sky
Telling Africa’s story
Inventing Africa is the title of a fascinating book by Robin Derricourt. It traces several themes of how outsiders have told the history of Africa in order to bolster their own worldview. There are terrific examples of archaeologists who have either contrived to present evidence to suit their own agendas or challenged the prevailing views… Continue reading Telling Africa’s story
Book Review – It’s the Economy, Stupid!
Bad decisions cast a long shadow. But the benefits of good decisions can last a surprisingly long time.
Book Review – How to Draw a Map (sort of…)
This is an attractively produced book which desperately needed an editor.
Book Review – Neurodivergence, a view from within
Explaining Humans: What Science Can Teach Us about Life, Love and Relationships By Dr Camilla Pang Viking/Penguin Books, 2020 (239 pages) [This review was originally written for the BAE Systems (Maritime Services) Mental Health First Aiders newsletter] Camilla Pang has a PhD in biochemistry and works as a postdoctoral researcher in bioinformatics. She is very… Continue reading Book Review – Neurodivergence, a view from within
Book Review – First Class: A History of Britain in 36 Postage Stamps
“What a country chooses to display on its postage stamps can be revealing in itself, and often what is not shown is most telling.”