Tag Archives: Tim
Jeevan Vasagar – The Surge – The Race Against the Most Destructive Force in Nature
The one with the comedy dog The Surge is a trenchant analysis of the destructive power of water, a clarion call for recognising imminent dangers, and a panoramic narrative of human catastrophe and hubris. Some passages present as a cross … Continue reading
Dr Geoff Andrews – Radicals: The Working Classes and the Making of Modern Britain
Whither the Labour movement? One is struck by the heroic energy and fortitude of the working classes – working long and arduous hours, they found time and resources to educate themselves, to organise trades unions, to make brass bands and … Continue reading
Posted in Cultural History, Economics, History, Politics
Tagged Andrews, Books, Communism, Geoff, Haigh, Radicals, Tim, Working Class
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Nicholas Wright – Warhead: How the Brain Shapes War and War Shapes the Brain
War. Huh! (Dum dum dum!) What’s our brain good for? “Human brains were not built for comfortable lives”, writes Nicholas Wright. Which rather raises the question, what were they built for? Well, among other things, “Every human brain is built … Continue reading
Tom Doyle – Ringo: A Fab Life
In the 70’s, he was a happy drunk … by the 80’s, he was just miserable! It is 1962. Ritchie Starkey – better known by his stage name of Ringo Starr – is widely acknowledged as the best drummer in … Continue reading
Thomas Levenson – So Very Small: How humans discovered germs, uncovered infectious diseases, and deluded themselves that we had conquered them
“A gentleman’s hands are [always] clean” Infectious diseases caused by bacteria have killed well over half of all humans who have ever lived on Earth. Historically, bacterial infections have started major pandemics such as the bubonic plague, which is estimated … Continue reading
Mike Jay – Free Radicals – How A Group of Romantic Experimenters Gave Birth to Psychedelic Science
I mean, you’ve got’a laugh, aintcha! Nitrous Oxide made “a picaresque journey from laboratory to lecture hall, variety palace to dentist’s chair.” A substance that does not exist in nature, it fairly blew the minds of the radical scientific community … Continue reading
Eleni Kyriacou – A Beautiful Way To Die
Would you kill to be famous? If we want impossible glamour and corruption we could do worse then 1950’s Hollywood. A Beautiful Way To Die is a romp of ambition and decadence in which everyone has an agenda and dark … Continue reading
John Higgs – Exterminate/Regenerate: The Story of Doctor Who
Wot, no Daleks?!? If you had a time machine and could return to 1963 you would be surprised at the haphazard genesis of Dr Who. We think of it today as the eternal jewel in the BBC crown, but the … Continue reading
Jerry Brotton – Four Points of the Compass: The Unexpected History of Direction
Where are we?!? Why deep South but far North? Why do some maps orient East or South, but never West? When did direction change from being where things came from to where we were going? Is the North Pole a … Continue reading
Posted in Cultural History, History, Philosophy, Politics, Science
Tagged Books, Hiagh, Podcast, science, Tim
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Robin Choudhury – The Beating Heart: The Art and Science of Our Most Vital Organ
What lies within? Every culture places the heart at the centre of personhood. It beats independently of our volition and when it stops we are dead. But if it were no more than a muscular pump it would hardly feature … Continue reading
Posted in Cultural History, History, Philosophy, Religion, Science
Tagged Books, Heart, Hiagh, Medicine, Podcast, science, Tim
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Marcus Chown – A Crack In Everything: How Black Holes Came in from the Cold and Took Cosmic Centre Stage
Black holes aren’t black! If there is one thing everybody knows about black holes it is that they are so dense that even light can’t escape. And yet, as Marcus Chown explains, black holes are some of the most prodigiously … Continue reading
Nick Wallis – The Great Post Office Scandal: The fight to expose a multimillion pound IT disaster which put innocent people in jail
Nick Wallis – Bath Publishing – £25 It is the biggest miscarriage of justice in British legal history. Hundreds of innocent people prosecuted, ruined, often imprisoned – their lives destroyed. And hundreds more dismissed from their jobs and their livelihoods, … Continue reading
Posted in Cultural History, Economics, History, Politics
Tagged Books, Hiagh, Jail, Nick, Podcast, Post Office, postoffice, Scandal, Tim, Wallace
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Julian Baggini – How The World Thinks
When we use the word ‘philosophy’ what we usually mean is “western philosophy’. But as the philosopher and bestselling author Julian Baggini points out in his new book, western philosophy accounts for only around 20% of the world’s population. Other … Continue reading
Posted in Cultural History, Philosophy, Religion
Tagged Baggini, China, Christian, comparative, Haigh, Islam, Julian, Philosophy, Tim
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Christopher Fowler – The Book of Forgotten Authors
Christopher Fowler is a good friend of this site, having appeared with us three times already. But then, he will keep writing books that we find irresistible. This time he has assembled an Aladdin’s Cave of writers who have been … Continue reading
Mike Ripley – Angels And Others
I first met Mike Ripley at a beano in 1990 to celebrate Collins Crime Club, for which occasion a special collection of stories was published. I can prove my claim about my whereabouts on that nefarious occasion in 1990, and … Continue reading
Alwyn W turner – The Last Post
No Man’s Land is already littered with books on the Great War, and there will be many more hurled into the fray, but not many of them will be as original as this thoughtful and engaging treatment by the historian … Continue reading
