News and reviews

Rigby’s Encyclopaedia of the Herring reviewed in the TLS

Added on 09/01/2026

When, in the early 1950s, Birds Eye tested a new frozen fish product for the British market, the cod fish finger was only ever intended as a bland control option. The experiment’s star prototype was the “Herring Savoury” – a breaded herring fillet, marketed with the slogan “No bones, no waste, no smell, no fuss”.

Can Europe Survive? reviewed in the TLS

Added on 09/01/2026

From every point of view, the present circumstances of Europe’s leading powers seem grave. This is true of the business outlook, politics, security threats and – though it is better placed than many – the region’s preparedness for the coming technological transformations.

Into the Weeds reviewed in the Observer

Added on 09/01/2026

My father, a playwright, says that his choice of profession can be parsed as humbly as considering the impulse of a child to showboat on a bicycle screaming, “Look at me!” towards a distracted mother.

Troublemaker reviewed in the Daily Mail

Added on 09/01/2026

A rum lot, the Mitfords. Head of the clan, Lord Redesdale, was chairman of the House of Lords’ Drains Committee and kept a pet mongoose.

Can Europe Survive? featured in the Observer

Added on 04/01/2026

As more and more people become aware of the catastrophe that is Brexit, with – as I reported last time – even former chancellor George Osborne suggesting re-entry to the customs union, the dilatory nature of the government’s “realignment” efforts is becoming embarrassing.

Rahila Gupta writes in the Guardian

Added on 31/12/2025

In 2025, the world that had been opened up by women has often seemed to be closing in. The forces behind the rollback of abortion rights in Donald Trump’s US are attempting to do the same in the UK. In Afghanistan, the Taliban has doubled down on its attacks on women and girls.

The Master of Contradictions reviewed in the Guardian

Added on 31/12/2025

In a 1924 letter to André Gide, Thomas Mann said he would soon be sending along a copy of his new novel, The Magic Mountain. “But I assure you that I do not in the least expect you to read it,” he wrote. “It is a highly problematical and ‘German’ work, and of such monstrous dimensions that I know perfectly well it won’t do for the rest of Europe.”

Helsinki reviewed in the Spectator

Added on 29/12/2025

In 1920, the young Finnish architect Alvar Alto flew over Helsinki for the first time. He was aghast. ‘An aviator can see where the monkeys have been and destroyed so very much,’ he recalled. Alto’s aerial view reflected a story of fragmentation and occupation spanning some five centuries, now surveyed by the historian Henrik Meinander.

Alchemy reviewed in the LRB

Added on 25/12/2025

The alchemist in his laboratory was a popular subject for Dutch painters of the 17th century because it allowed them to show off their skill with light. Mattheus van Helmont’s A Savant in His Cabinet, Surrounded by Chemical and Other Apparatus, Examining a Flask (1670s), one of the splendid plates in Philip Ball’s introduction to alchemy, depicts an alchemist at work, brandishing a beaker of pale blue fluid in one hand, surrounded by the implements of his craft.

The White Lady mentioned in the Daily Mail

Added on 20/12/2025

Among the most magical moments of this Hanukkah and Christmas season of gift giving is opening handsomely wrapped books from friends. As much as the socks, scarves and English sparkling wine are appreciated, none of these thrill as much as a reading surprise.

Up in the Air reviewed in the Spectator

Added on 12/12/2025

On BBC 2 last Monday,’ noted the Sunday Telegraph’s TV critic Trevor Grove in February 1979, ‘the return of Fawlty Towers was immediately followed by a programme about faulty towers.

Wild for Austen reviewed in the TLS

Added on 12/12/2025

Miss Fanny’s ferocity merited special notice in The Picture of London, for 1809, a guidebook published by John Feltham. Even among others of her kind, “the difference of disposition in the same species” was “very striking”.