Category Archives: History
Human nature was just so much infinitely malleable putty
City of Heavenly Tranquility, by Jasper Becker I don’t like abandoning books. I used to take it as a point of pride in fact that I never abandoned them. Those days are long past. Now I don’t hope a bad … Continue reading
Filed under History, Non-Fiction
I threw myself upon Italy as if on the body of a woman
Venices, by Paul Morand I recently purchased Against Venice, by Rene Debray (I’m reading it at the moment in fact). It’s a sort of diatribe against Venice, and more to the point against those who romanticise it. I love Venice, … Continue reading
Filed under French Literature, History, Italy, Morand, Paul, Pushkin Press, Translation, Venice
The English are fond of scribbling on walls
A Visit to the Barbary Regencies in 1830 is an unusual book, unusual for me anyway. It is an excerpt from the diaries of Lord Grosvenor, originally published by him in this form, in which he details his visit to … Continue reading
Filed under History, Levantine History, Non-Fiction, North Africa
The East! The East!
Mark Mazower’s The Balkans, subtitled “From the End of Byzantium to the Present Day”, is a 176 page (including detailed guide to further reading and index) overview of the history of the Balkans over the past 550 years or so. … Continue reading
Filed under History, Non-Fiction
I have had a great love for the Sahara
Wind, Sand and Stars, by Antoine de Saint-Exupery Antoine de Saint-Exupery is a French author, best known for his 1942 children’s bestseller titled “The Little Prince”. As well as The Little Prince however, Saint-Expupery also wrote a number of serious … Continue reading
A to the K
AK47, The Story of the People’s Gun, is a work of social history and reportage by journalist Michael Hodges. It charts the rise of the AK 47 from it’s creation in the post WWII Soviet Union to its present status … Continue reading
Filed under History, Non-Fiction, Politics, Reportage
Castile has made Spain, and Castile has destroyed it
Imperial Spain is a history of the rise and decline of Imperial Spain between the years 1469 and 1716. It opens with the union of the Crowns of Castile and Aragon, and ends with the final abolition of the Crown … Continue reading
Filed under History, Non-Fiction, Spanish History
