I am pressing on through The Exception, by Christian Jungersen. This is a terrific novel. It is set in a small Danish NGO of experts on war crimes. The team there, almost all women, start falling out when some threatening emails arrive. The ensuing suspicions and intrigue are described in a gripping […]
I make it into the 200th Britblog round-up, with my piece below on Industrial Policy. It’s hosted by the quixotic Mr Eugenides. Go and have a look. There is a link to a bafflingly random video ad for washing machines featuring topless female sky-divers.
A reader responds to my posting on Bosnian war deaths: When you will realise that in Bosnia (Yugoslavia) occurred a civil war, and that is caused by the large number of victims and mass slaughter of Serbs by Croats and Mislimans during the Second World War (Serbs have never forgotten that […]
The latest issue of DIPLOMAT carries my droll article on diplomatic leaks down the ages. Written before the recent Damian Green MP drama here in Parliament. But perhaps none the worse for that. Has that much changed since Rome in 1870? Thus: One of the USA’s most brilliant Ambassadors, George […]
I have a mention this week at Philbiblon. These quixotic round-ups invariably take one to places one otherwise just would not go. Such as High on Rebellion, analysing the Guardian’s coverage of feminism: unsatisfactory, as evidenced by its coverage of the Tube Cleaners Strike. And Elizabeth Chadwick, giving us all […]
Is here. In Total Politics. And if you want more, have a look at the latest issue: TP 6 (registration required). I write about Diplomatic Memoirs and all that. Are there signs that the FCO is going to try to put out new rules which are not oppressive and unworkable? […]
Does a new career beckon? I was asked today to help craft a speech for a leading actress to use in addressing a small gathering for a good cause. Done. There must be lots of celebrities out there needing some deft light-touch words of this sort to draw on, but […]
A poignant and powerful essay cum film review by Myles Harris asks: … Why do we not despair when as children we learn we are eventually going to die? The film gives this conundrum an extra twist by examining how the whole human race copes with learning it is about […]
My latest plan is to rewrite underperforming and sloppy English on websites. And get paid lavishly for it. Many websites are nice in technical design, but clumsy in expression. No surprise there. The capacity of people in the UK to write sharp, accurate English is plummeting. Good grammar and good writing […]
Responding to my posting below about poor website writing, a reader makes the following argument: My feeling is that poor use of language isn’t actually the problem: it’s a symptom of sloppy thinking. Interesting chicken and egg issue here. Does poor command of language reflect sloppy thinking, or create it? No doubt […]
