The Great Revolt by Paul Dowswell
I've never troubled to hide my feelings about history. With very few exceptions, if it happened before 1800 I'm just not interested. I realise that…
Some Further Thoughts on DFB
In my less realistic and rational moments (I can't actually write and I don't own the copyright) I imagine writing a follow on novel for…
Some Fan Fiction
Regular readers of this blog will have been unable to avoid the revelation that my favourite mid twentieth century writer is Dorita Fairlie Bruce. I…
Elizabeth Wein
I only meant, last night, to read the first few pages of The Enigma Game to get a feel for it but I ended up…
Straddling the Border
About fifteen years ago I went to Italy with a couple of friends for a winter week. We stayed first in Verona, a beautiful city,…
Either Side of Berlin
I'm not quite sure where my desire to visit Berlin came from and I can't remember when the divided city was first something I was…
Guernsey Before the Chalet School
As a teenager I found Elinor Brent-Dyer's La Rochelle series quite difficult to get into. They seemed to me to be much more dense than…
To the Festival
I have always known Edinburgh. I was born here and lived my first five years here. My Mum's parents lived in Musselburgh only a few…
Travel Back in Time
I did mention that Mabel Esther Allan would feature largely in this set of posts and here she is again using her own name. Blue…
Eva Ibbotson’s Memories of Vienna
I have never been to Vienna, although I have long wished to go. I've seen photographs and travelogues of the city and it looks splendid.…
