Edinburgh born Philip Kerr (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Kerr) and (http://www.philipkerr.org/) has served up some pretty successful historical crime/thrillers set in Germany and elsewhere during the 1930s, the Second World War and the Cold War. Should you wish to immerse yourself in these shady worlds and gain an introduction to the work of Kerr I’d recommend this compilation. It brings […]
If inequality doesn’t bother you a bit – turn away. If you believe it’s an obscenity that the rich can stash away £13 trillion in offshore investment accounts in order to avoid tax (http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2012-07-22/news/32788549_1_tax-havens-tax-justice-network-investment-bank) whilst the poor are ground into the dust, made to work harder every day and have their income reduced – this
Capital in the Twenty-First Century by Thomas Piketty Read More »
This is a treat for anyone who is already convinced by the ideas of evolutionary biology (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolutionary_biology) or wishes an introduction to them. Here is a question…Will people born in the 1990s in the developed world live as long as those born 60 years ago? The upward trend in life expectancy of the last century
Mismatch by Peter Gluckman Read More »
Fancy some classic history writing? You couldn’t do better the The History of the Conquest of Peru (1847) by William Hickling Prescott. This gripping chronicle draws upon the firsthand accounts of eminent 16th-century captains and statesmen to relate the overthrow of the Inca empire by the conquistadors. Historians admire Prescott for his exhaustive, careful, and
The History of the Conquest of Peru Read More »
Mason Cross (http://carterblake.net/) was born in Glasgow in 1979. He studied English at the University of Stirling and currently works in the voluntary sector. He has written a number of short stories, including ‘A Living’, which was shortlisted for the Quick Reads ‘Get Britain Reading’ Award. He lives in Glasgow with his wife and three children.
The Killing Season Read More »
Few works of economic and political analysis are worth reading 60 years after publication. The Opium of the Intellectuals (1955), by French intellectual Raymond Aron (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raymond_Aron) is one of them. The author shows how noble ideas can slide into the tyranny of secular religion and emphasizes how political thought has the profound responsibility of telling the
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One of my favourite contemporary philosophers is Simon Blackburn (http://www2.phil.cam.ac.uk/~swb24/). A lot of this is to do with his willingness to address his books to a popular audience. He is never less than lucid and informative. I feel a wry but honest smile behind much of his commentary. His is a cool, powerful, analytical mind.
Mirror, Mirror by Simon Blackburn Read More »
Journalist and polemicist Rod Liddle (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rod_Liddle) likes to ‘mix it up’. I heard about Selfish Whining Monkeys (2014) on Radio 4’s ‘Start the Week’ on Monday. It sounded enjoyably provocative. Here is the trade description: ‘With a sharp eye for the magnificently absurd, Rod Liddle sets light to modern-day Britain. In the western world, on
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In ‘Whispers of Immortality‘ by T.S. Eliot we find the following lines: ‘Webster was much possessed by death, And saw the skull beneath the skin, And breastless creatures underground, Leaned backward with a lipless grin’. Peter James might equally be described as ‘possessed by death’ because the word dead appears in the title of all ten
