January 2014

Homage to Catalonia (1938) is George Orwell‘s personal account of his experiences and observations in the Spanish Civil War. An excellent summary is offered at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homage_to_catalonia. This is a ‘must read’ of our cultural heritage. Available in paperback at http://www.amazon.co.uk/Homage-Catalonia-Penguin-Modern-Classics/dp/0141183055/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1389871149&sr=8-1&keywords=homage+to+catalonia There are two excellent episodes of the BBC Radio 4 programmes to go with this. First […]

While many readers are familiar with John McPhee’s (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_mcphee) masterful pieces on a large scale (the geological history of North America, or the nature of Alaska), McPhee is equally remarkable when he considers the seemingly inconsequential. Oranges (1967) was conceived as a short magazine piece, but thanks to his unparalleled investigative skills, became a slim, fact-filled book.

Life is more unpredictable than we are prepared to accept. In this brilliant book Nassim Nicholas Taleb (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nassim_taleb and http://www.fooledbyrandomness.com/) distils his idiosyncratic wisdom to demolish our illusions, contrasting the classical values of courage, elegance and erudition against modern philistinism and phoniness. Only by accepting what we don’t know, he shows, can we really see the world as

In these coolly observant essays, Joan Didion (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_Didion) looks at the American political process and at ‘that handful of insiders who invent, year in and year out, the narrative of public life’. Through the deconstruction of the sound bites and photo ops of three presidential campaigns, one presidential impeachment, and an unforgettable sex scandal, Didion reveals

John Berger’s (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Berger) Ways of Seeing (1972) is one of the most stimulating and influential books on art in any language. It was based on the BBC television series about which the Sunday Times critic commented: ‘This is an eye-opener in more ways than one: by concentrating on how we look at paintings . . .

Drawing on his own incarceration and exile, as well as on evidence from more than 200 fellow prisoners and Soviet archives, Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleksandr_Solzhenitsyn) reveals the entire apparatus of Soviet repression, the state within the state, that ruled the lives of millions. Through truly Shakespearean portraits of its victims, men, women, and children, we encounter

The famous child psychologist, Bruno Bettelheim (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruno_Bettelheim), explains how fairy tales educate, support, and liberate the emotions of children. Wicked stepmothers and beautiful princesses … magic forests and enchanted towers … little pigs and big bad wolves … Fairy tales have been an integral part of childhood for hundreds of years. It’s in this book

Saloon-keepers and street preachers, gypsies and steel-walking Mohawks, a bearded lady and a 93-year-old ‘seafoodetarian’ who believes his specialized diet will keep him alive for another two decades. These are among the people that Joseph Mitchell (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Mitchell_(writer)) immortalized in his reportage for The New Yorker and in four books McSorley’s Wonderful Saloon, Old Mr. Flood, The

A central bond, a cherished value, a unique relationship, a profound human need, a type of love. What is the nature of friendship, and what is its significance in our lives? How has friendship changed since the ancient Greeks began to analyze it, and has modern technology altered its very definition? In this fascinating exploration

What Charles Rosen’s (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Rosen) celebrated book The Classical Style (1971) did for music of the Classical period, this volume of 1995 brilliantly does for the Romantic era. An exhilarating exploration of the musical language, forms, and styles of the Romantic period, it captures the spirit that enlivened a generation of composers and musicians, and in doing so