Oct 22, 2021 | Blog
There’s a bit of a hidden treasure, if not quite on my doorstep, then only an hour’s drive away towards the Cotswolds. Compton Verney is an historic manor and parish, with a Grade-I listed country house, redesigned by Robert Adam in the 1760s and landscaped by...
Oct 19, 2021 | Blog
I could not at first remember why I bore a grudge against the late Angela Carter. But a rapid search turned up, as its first item, a review in The London Review of Books for 24 January 1985, of The Official Foodie Handbook by Ann Barr and me. The piece is uninformed,...
Jun 28, 2021 | Blog
Edward Mortimer, foreign affairs journalist who became Kofi Annan’s speechwriter at the UN– obituary His ability to listen intently to opposing arguments contributed to the style of Annan’s leadership ByTelegraph Obituaries27 June 2021 • 10:00pm Edward Mortimer, who...
Jun 28, 2021 | Blog
A beautiful book, but a fairly orthodox biography of the Hon. Stephen “Tommy” Tomlin Bloomsbury Stud: The Life of Stephen “Tommy” Tomlin by Michael Bloch and Susan Fox M.A.B., £40.00 Despite its pornography–promising title, Bloomsbury Stud is a fairly orthodox...
Jun 23, 2021 | Blog
The Amazon delivery guy rang the bell, then scampered off to safety behind the garden gate, a good distance, but not so far that he couldn’t hear and acknowledge my “thank you.” My wife is so far coping with her duties as a Parish Counsellor by attending meetings...
May 18, 2021 | Blog
Norman Kolpas argues that overfeeding geese mimics what pre-migratory birds do naturally, and our disapproval betrays an ignorance of bird physiology Foie Gras: A Global History Norman Kolpas Reaktion Books, pp. 152, £10.99 In his excellent, brief chronicle of foie...
