Review: The Killing Habit, by Mark Billingham
It’s not a total mystery why I rate Mark Billingham as the best crime writer in Britain today. He’s created a wonderful lead character, Tom Thorne, with a great supporting cast who you actually grow…
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Review: The Kremlin’s Candidate, by Jason Matthews
No, not that candidate. In spite of making every effort to keep up with today’s headlines (references to the Russian seizure of Crimea, North Korea’s nuclear programme and so on), author Jason Matthews never imagines…
The Socialist Delegation to Georgia
Presentation to the International Scientific Forum: “Remembering the Georgian Democratic Republic 100 Years On: A Model for Europe” – Tbilisi – June 2018 There was a time when I would not have had to explain…
Review: Palace of Treason, by Jason Matthews
This, the second of the Red Sparrow books, continues where the previous one left off, and offers more of the same. It’s written by a former CIA officer, so much of it has the ring…
La forgesita revolucio de Kartvelujo
Mia prelego je la Londona Esperanto-Klubo – 8 junio 2018. Bonan vesperon. Unue, dankon pro la invito. Mi ĝojas paroli ĉi tie, je via klubo. Mi volas danki Renato Corsetti, mian instruiston, por organizi la…
Review: Red Sparrow by Jason Matthews
Jason Matthews writes with such authority about the CIA that I kept thinking as I read this book — he’s either got a great imagination, or he was a player. It turns out to be…
Review: Perfect Match, by D.B. Thorne
This is normally the kind of book I love. A gritty, serial-killer crime novel set in today’s London. Having read a very favourable review, I thought I’d give it a chance. I have to say…
Review: Flight from the USSR, by Dato Turashvili
This books tells the tragic story of a group of young Georgian men (and one woman) who chose to hijack a Soviet airliner in November 1983 in an attempt to escape to the West. As…
Review: The End, by Ian Kershaw
Ian Kershaw’s book aims to answer just one question: why did the Germans continue to fight even after the second world war was clearly lost? He reviews a number of explanations given, ranging from the…
Georgia and the West: Myths and Reality
The following is the text of a talk I gave yesterday (19.5.18) at an event at the home of Sir Oliver Wardrop, the first British high commissioner for the Transcaucasus, to mark the 100th anniversary…