Books

The Corner That Held Them

On 14 June 1940, Paris fell to the German Army. The British author Sylvia Townsend Warner wrote in her diary.…

2 years ago

Conversations Through the Rabbit Glass

“But I don’t want to go among mad people,” Alice remarked. “Oh, you can’t help that,” said the Cat: “we’re…

2 years ago

When Milton met Galileo

I chanced upon this painting of the meeting between Galileo and John Milton and had a flashback to undergraduate days…

2 years ago

A Scream in Soho

It's London in wartime, in the blackout before the Blitz and the streets of Soho are full of characters straight…

2 years ago

The East Coker Opera House Murders #1940Club

Based on his published letters,1940 was a busy year for T.S.Eliot. He was based in London and working at Faber…

2 years ago

1940 and the #1940Club

Hope I'm not jumping the gun here but the #1940Club starts next week and I've been gearing up and getting…

2 years ago

The Pineapple Party

Norman Pearson returned towards the end of January, after an absence in Spain and Portugal, bearing two bananas, two oranges…

2 years ago

Comfort Food and Comfort Books

A recent NYTimes Cooking newsletter from Melissa Clark drew my attention to the article about Raghavan Iyer by Kim Severson …

2 years ago

The Rise and Fall of Spurious George

Two centuries after William Hogarth published his engravings of the decline and fall of Tom Rakewell, Rebecca West wrote a…

2 years ago

Classic Crime: Murder, she laughed

Felled by the dreaded lurgy in early January I was sidelined from my usual reading routine. It’s hard to concentrate…

2 years ago