Category Archives: Review

Book Reviews: Sellar and Yeatman 1066 and All That (1930); O’Farrell An utterly impartial history of Britain

Posted on October 22, 2018 by

Sellar and Yeatman invented satire on school-boy history. They mocked history books which were current at the time which mostly created the myth that the British were naturally superior to all other countries. They developed the phrase ‘a good thing’ … Continue reading →

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Film Review: Hostiles (Christian Bale and Rosamund Pike)

Posted on October 15, 2018 by

Captain Blocker (Bale) is a hugely conflicted soldier in the Old West. His colonel orders him to return a native Indian chief to Montana. He’s taunted by a journalist about his reputation for brutal treatment. Blocker then uses the Nazi … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Michael Lewis ~ Flash Boys: Cracking the money code

Posted on September 24, 2018 by

This is a wonderfully entertaining book, which reads like a novel, an incomprehensible techy textbook and a polemic against the US stock market. Parts were beyond my understanding. For example- “Round-trip travel time from Chicago to New Jersey has been … Continue reading →

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Football Review: Dagenham and Redbridge vs. Chesterfield Saturday 15th September 2018

Posted on September 17, 2018 by

Dagenham (‘Redbridge’ is silent amongst hard core fans) have had a torrid 2018. The principal sponsor and benefactor withdrew support and with very poor crowds (a home crowd of about 1000 + away support) and mounting debts it looked like … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Helen Cresswell ~ Ordinary Jack: the Bagthorpe Saga

Posted on September 11, 2018 by

Ordinary Jack is aimed at the 9+ market. Yes it’s a children’s book. It’s full of guileless humour and strong characterisation. Ordinary Jack is a member of the Bagthorpe family all of whom are very high achieving talented and utterly … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Geoff Dyer ~ Jeff in Venice, Death in Varanasi

Posted on August 28, 2018 by

This book is actually two books linked by the narrator, Jeff. The first half is of Jeff as a degenerate freelance journalist who hates both his job ‘writing shit articles’ and himself. He reflects on lost talent and an inability … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Mike Herron- Slow Horses

Posted on August 21, 2018 by

Every organisation has people who don’t fit in. Slough House is full of MI5 rejects, underachievers and the really talented who don’t fit in: they don’t have any career prospects. Jackson Lamb is significantly superior to everyone else with a … Continue reading →

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