Yes, I admit it, I haven't blogged for a long time. Too many distractions, good and bad, plus the realisation that nobody reads your blog...

It is hard to believe now that Spain was once in charge of a huge empire that straddled the world. This excellent, colourful account by...

This could be sub-titled: 'the face that launched a thousand demos'; that mask, the Guy Fawkes mask, as worn by V in this graphic novel...

It seems an age since I last posted on this blog. Apart from the distractions of real life my main excuse is that I have been heavily...

So, I have managed to read volume 1 of the Penguin Classics edition of The Story of the Stone by Cao Xueqin translated by David Hawkes (...

One of the great things about living near London is that when you pay a visit to the centre you can wander around and see all sorts of...

Beautifully filmed in wonderful locations (notably Barcelona, southern Spain and the Sahara Desert), Antonioni's "The Passenger" is a joy...

If you haven't yet seen 'The Favourite', then you should. It is a splendid film and mostly filmed in Hatfield House, which provides a...

Family viewing over the holiday was not the usual Yuletide fare. No 'White Christmas', 'It's a Wonderful Life' or 'The Sound of Music';...

London seems to be full of versions of Macbeth this winter: National Theatre; Royal Shakespeare Company at the Barbican, Globe and the...

If you are a fan of impressionist and post-impressionist painting then you have probably visited the Courtauld Gallery in London's...

Before I embark on the longest work of fiction I have ever read (see last entry) I must report that I have just finished Berlin Game by...

It is Christmas time and my main present this year is a book, but not just any old book: it merits five volumes in the Penguin edition...

"Simmering chemistry": I stole that description from the Evening Standard review of the National Theatre's latest production of...

Inspector Mortka is someone I would really not like to meet. He is a grizzled, grumbling, old school detective in the style of Morse, but...

Yes, we all need help to survive Brexit, but this particular source of information and opinion is one I value highly. I have been a...

'The Road to Serfdom' by Friedrich Hayek, is a classic political polemic in favour of free markets and against socialism, or 'planning'...

I admit it: I like James Bond. But why? Isn't he a ruthless, bloodthirsty killer; a love-em and leave-em serial seducer; a gambling...

The Empire of Rock is gradually coming to its final years. Not quite the decline and fall of the Roman Empire, as instead of barbarians...

As the accompanying photo shows, I have just had the pleasure of watching a production of The Importance of Being Earnest, filmed at the...