The following is the text of my presentation to the international seminar held in Oslo this week by the Arthur Svensson foundation. First of all, I want to thank the Svensson foundation for the…Read more…
Review: Homage to Catalonia, by George Orwell
I first read George Orwell’s account of his time in Spain many years ago, and now re-read in advance of a visit to Barcelona. I am actually writing this review from the hotel in which Orwell…Read more…
Review: Their Little Secret, by Mark Billingham
Their Little Secret, the latest in the Tom Thorne series of crime novels, offers further proof of why author Mark Billingham is probably the best crime writer in Britain today — and one of our…Read more…
All The World’s A Stage, by Boris Akunin
I read this book in the wrong order as it precedes Akunin’s Black City, which I recently completed. And it does set the stage (sorry – couldn’t resist) for the latter book, with…Read more…
Back to Linux
Several years back, I had a Linux laptop. But by around 2010 I had migrated to the Apple ecosystem, starting with an iPad, and left …Read more…
Review: Black City, by Boris Akunin
Boris Akunin is the pseudonym for Grigory Chkhartishvili, one of the most successful crime writers ever to emerge from Russia. His series of books featuring …Read more…
Review: The Battle, by Richard Overy
This book has now gone through several editions, and was recently re-issued with a slightly different title. It is a very short history of the Battle of Britain of 1940-41 and in just a few…Read more…
If we can’t get a new government, let’s get a new Left
The Israeli Left failed yesterday in its attempt to change the leadership and the direction of the country. Maybe it’s time to change the Left instead. And let’s learn a lesson from Israel’s history…Read more…
Review: The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, illustrated by Renée Nault
Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale has been in the news a lot lately. Her book is now considered a classic, a recent television adaptation was a huge success, and a sequel is due out…Read more…
Review: Eugene V. Debs: A Graphic Biography by Noah Van Sciver, Paul Buhle, Steve Max and Dave Nance
The colourful Eugene V. Debs would make a wonderful subject for a graphic novel but unfortunately, this is not the book I’d recommend. A text-heavy graphic novel that cannot decide if…Read more…
Review: Utopia for Realists: And How We Can Get There, by Rutger Bregman
I admit to being a bit of a latecomer to this party, having only discovered Rutger Bregman following his extraordinary non-interview on Fox News recently. This is his best-selling book laying out the…Read more…
Don’t vote
If having a prime minister who faces a number of serious criminal charges doesn’t bother you because you think it’s all “fake news” cooked up by the left-wing media, you can relax because polls…Read more…
Review: A Berliner’s Luck – Surviving the Third Reich and World War II, by Fred A. Simon
This short memoir, written by the author when in his eighties, looks back at his experience as a German soldier during the Second World War. I would not recommend it to others. Sometimes in…Read more…
Review: Forgotten Legion: Sonderverbünde Bergmann in World War II, 1941-1945 by Eduard Abramian with Antonio J. Muñoz
There is a tendency, I think, among some who write about the Nazi Germans to become – too put it mildly – somewhat too close to their subject. That is the case with this book…Read more…
It’s time to talk about peace, not separation
The late Amos Oz had a very appealing way of describing his vision for peace between Israelis and Palestinians. “I don’t believe in a sudden burst of mutual love between Israel and Palestine,” he…Read more…
Review: How to Cure a Fanatic, by Amos Oz
This tiny little book, which you can read in under an hour, is a reminder of how much Amos Oz is missed today. The book consists of two short speeches he gave in Germany in…Read more…
Review: A Freewheelin’ Time, by Suze Rotolo
It was one of the iconic images of the early 1960s: a young Bob Dylan walking down a snow-covered street in Manhattan, looking down, while a young woman clutching his left arm walks with him,…Read more…
Review: Between Friends, by Amos Oz
I lived for nearly 18 years on a kibbutz. Amos Oz, who passed a way a few weeks ago, also lived for a number of years on a kibbutz. This collection of stories takes place…Read more…
Review: Transcription, by Kate Atkinson
Having just read a couple of non-fiction books about the British people who worked for a German victory in the Second World War, I thought it was time to read a work of fiction on…Read more…
Review: Sara, by Garth Ennis
This new graphic novel is a beautifully-drawn, powerfully-told story about a group of seven Soviet female snipers during the Second World War. Sara, the best shot in the group, is plagued by doubts…Read more…