The sun came out yesterday, the sky filled with cotton wool clouds, and birds chirped merrily. An idyllic English afternoon in early Spring, in fact. Edward Thomas (1878-1917) in 1905 Rupert Brooke (1887-1915) in April 1913 - colourized by jecinci…
I think this is him! Time to take a break from seriousness and intensity. Here's some much-needed light relief. Patrick Barrington, or as he was to become, the 11th (and last) Viscount Barrington of Ardglass and 11th Baron Barrington of…
W H Auden had in later life the most wonderfully craggy face in English literature. But this poem comes from many years earlier and is rather less heart-warming than the others we've had. But then, because we can't always be…
Alan Paton (1903-1988) was a South African who spent decades fighting against the apartheid system. He was a founding member of the Liberal Party of South Africa and worked in it until it was banned by the government. He is…
It seems strange to continue this series while the coronavirus is uppermost in our minds, but with the growing need for self-isolation, it is perhaps all the more important to continue long-standing online conversations. Last weekend was Purim. It's an…
Sacred Treasure There has been much heat and hurt recently about power abuse and church ministry. It is something that I've been working on and engaging with for the last 10 years or so. Here are some of the better…
Tom Stoppard is one of the greatest living playwrights. End of. His output has been remarkable so I've always been excited when news of new work starts doing the rounds. I adore Rosencrantz and Gildenstern are Dead and the truly…
Previous posts Anti-Semitism in the UK: 1. 75 years after Auschwitz...Anti-Semitism in the UK: 2. The challenge of definitions Now I'm super-conscious that the previous post is controversial. But here's one difficulty with it in particular. Supposing, then, that it…
Click here for Anti-Semitism in the UK: 1. 75 years after Auschwitz... Now I'm horribly aware of the hot water I'm tiptoeing into. So let me say at the outset: I'm no expert; I fully concede that others spend vastly…
The president of Poland Andrzej Duda walks with survivors through the gates of Auschwitz to attend the 75th anniversary commemorations (AP) I started working on this short series of posts while sitting in Frankfurt airport, en route to Ukraine. Just in…