Aidan McQuade’s first novel, The Undiscovered Country (2020), was a bit of a hybrid — part crime novel, part history of Ireland in the period just after Partition. It was terrific because McQuade is both…
I read this book, the first in the series of 13 novels about the late 19th century Russian detective Erast Fandorin, when it first appeared some twenty years ago. I remember little about the plot,…
This is one of those books where saying who the writer was is contentious. It was initially published anonymously. Later, the exiled Russian Menshevik writer Boris Nicolaevsky was listed as the author. Nicolaevsky always claimed…
Geoffrey Roberts is a leading expert on Soviet history and chose a really interesting take on Stalin’s life with this book. His starting principle seems to be that whatever else Stalin was (e.g., a monster)…
I heard this author interviewed on the Professor Buzzkill podcast recently and loved what she had to say, especially about medieval Europe. Her book is good and entertaining. But she avoids controversy, not really dealing…
I pay attention to politics in a number of countries, some of which I also vote in. I’m an optimist by nature and I see real possibilities for wins by parties I like. For example,…
Earlier this year I read and reviewed “Damascus Station” by former CIA officer David McCloskey. I thought it a competent thriller and enjoyed it. I looked forward to reading the second book in the series,…
This article is not going to win me any friends. And it may convince no one. But it demands to be written. I oppose the increasingly loud calls here in Britain and around the world…
The massacre of Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics in 1972 caused genuine shock and horror around the world. There was considerable sympathy for Israel in the wake of the tragedy. But not so for…
This book got a surprisingly good review from The Guardian and as one who likes to read the occasional personal productivity / self-help books, I thought – why not give the Terminator a go? Here’s…