Journal of the Covid Years: the Coming Storm
I'm continuing with the serialisation of my wife's journal, reminding us of the last two extraordinary years as we already begin to forget it. After last week's introduction to the year, with the optimism of New Year's Eve and plans for the months ahead, we move on to...
Journal of the Covid Years
I've mentioned a few times that I'm going to be blogging my beloved's diary of the covid years. She keeps a regular journal (like the heroine of one of the 19th century novels she loves) and these blog posts are based on her entries made at the time. I think they are...
Blog posts: looking back at 2021 and wondering about 2022
I wrote 64 blog posts altogether last year. Some, obviously, were about my books; some were reviews of other people’s books; some were serious essays on historical themes; some were mostly photos of Wales and one (which will come as no surprise to those who know me)...
2021 Book Reviews
Every year I say that I am cutting back on book reviews and in 2021 I have managed to make a start in that direction. There were only 18 book reviews on my block last year (including one that just snuck into the beginning of 2022). A lot of people reported that,...
A look ahead at 2022
With the end of January only days away, it’s a bit late to be talking about plans for 2022, but the first weeks of the new year have been busy. Indeed, I’ve already passed my first landmark of 2022 with the publication of the latest James Burke book: Burke and the...
Book review: The Leviathan
I was given a copy of this book from NetGalley. It appealed because I have been reading a few stories set around the British Civil War lately and another book in this period looked fun. The blurb mentioned a supernatural element, but I thought that might be...
A belated look back at 2021
As the end of January rushes towards us, it’s perhaps a bit late in the day to be doing my review of 2021, but it’s been a busy few weeks so here we are. I was tempted to skip the retrospective, but it’s a tradition and traditions are worth keeping up and, besides,...
‘Burke and the Pimpernel Affair’ publishes today
Burke and the Pimpernel Affair is officially published today. It’s only on Kindle at the moment – the paperback edition has been delayed by (yes, you guessed it) covid. It should be along very soon though. Anyway, nice as it is to see people reading physical copies of...
Return of the Tuesday Book Review
With Burke and the Pimpernel Affair coming out on Friday, my blog is a bit occupied with the adventures of my Napoleonic spy at the moment. That should mean waiting a few weeks for my review of Lucky Jack. I don't want to hang about, though, as Lucky Jack is a...
Burke and the Pimpernel Affair
Burke and the Pimpernel Affair was finished at the end of last summer, but I was re-publishing the John Williamson Papers and I wanted these to have a clear run without trying to promote a new Burke book at the same time. After that we were coming into the...