Convergence of the Twain

In this centenary month of the sinking of the Titanic we welcome Mark Richardson, literary professor and blogger, on a poem that dips into deep and strange waters to quite astonishing effect. Thomas Hardy first published The Convergence of the Twain in the program printed for a "Dramatic and Operatic Matineé in Aid ... Read More...

No. 2 in D Major

Mahlerman continues his fortnightly guide to serious music by looking at three great second symphonies... In the summer of 1802 Ludwig van Beethoven, as was his pleasure, left Vienna for the peace of the countryside, settling in the small hamlet of Heiligenstadt a few miles away. Just 32 years old, with ... Read More...

Meeting of Minds: Dabblers at the Mall Tavern

Following yesterday’s drinks at the Mall Tavern, some Dabblers may be experiencing side effects such as double vision, dizziness, nausea, lightheadedness, loss of balance, bladder urgency and abnormal sweating. You will be pleased to hear that RetroProgressive has found a cure for these uncomfortable ailments, thanks to a February 1936 copy ... Read More...

Book Review: Leningrad by Anna Reid

Elberry finds historian Anna Reid successfully managing a difficult balancing act in her new book about the seige of Leningrad, which killed four times as many people as Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined... "When one man dies it is a tragedy, when thousands die it's statistics" (Stalin to Churchill at Teheran) And the opening ... Read More...

Aesop’s Foibles

Last week in his cupboard, Frank Key gave us a modern fable, so this week we asked him to turn his attention to Aesop, the great fabulist of antiquity. Unfortunately, we delegated the task of telephoning Frank to a Dabbler minion with a very thick Black Country accent, and a ... Read More...

Review: Other Nature by Antlers Gallery

Guest art reviewer Sophie Whenham admires a revival of traditional drawing techniques amongst some young British artists... A recent article by Jonathan Jones entitled Get up and demand better British art  prompted me to think about the contemporary art scene: for many people, so much of it is inaccessible, incomprehensible and unoriginal.  And the hysteria surrounding some exhibitions ... Read More...

Voysey comes to town

In this series Philip Wilkinson – author, architectural historian and denizen of the wonderful English Buildings Blog – takes us on a journey round some buildings with rather unlikely creators… Charles Francis Annesley Voysey was one of the great domestic architects of the Arts and Crafts movement, famous for his low-slung, ... Read More...

The India of Inchinnan

In the second of two exclusive online extracts from the indispensable guide to the hidden joys of Scotland, Nothing to See Here, we look at a striking example of industrial art deco, which, thankfully, is looking as good as it's ever done. You can buy Anne's book here (it's published ... Read More...