RattleBag and Rhubarb

Six Degrees: Prophet Song to Waterland

The great chain of books - #6Degrees. There’s an explanation of how all this works here.  Everyone is welcome to…

1 month ago

The Big Bow Mystery by Israel Zangwill

A murder in a locked room. Whodunit? And more importantly, howdunit? Who would want to kill philanthropist, union organizer, and…

1 month ago

The Soul of Nature: Caspar David Friedrich and Byron’s Childe Harold

A cold, wet February day - perfect backdrop for a journey into Romanticism—off on the M4 bus to the Met…

2 months ago

DEI and Getting Back on Track

Dialogue with Dignity I’ve been thinking about issues of racial justice since I was a teenager. I’m not claiming to…

2 months ago

In Love with London Fog

I kept coming across paintings of London by Yoshio Markino - gauzy portraits of a mysteriously colorful, old-world city often…

2 months ago

The Horizontal Man

There’s something irresistible about a crime story set in a school or college. Like the classic snowbound country house setting,…

2 months ago

A Better Class of Train

The two-forty-five express — Paddington to Market Blandings, first stop Oxford—stood at its piatform with that air of well-bred reserve…

3 months ago

The Reverse Ferret and the Vicar of Bray

Changing your mind is perfectly normal—and often essential. After all, it’s what education is all about - updating your thoughts…

3 months ago

The Day Trip

One childhood ritual during the days between Christmas and the return to school was the day trip to London. The…

3 months ago

Wayward and The Turning Tide

“That woman is pursued by demons,” Wally Brigley, the Board chair, declared as he settled into Tim Endibel’s office, plonked…

3 months ago