The Age of Innocence: Football in the 1970s

Brit reviews 'The Age of Innocence - Football in the 1970s' a stunning new photographic book published by TASCHEN... Golden Age-ism ­‑­ the idea that in a particular era the stars shone brighter, the greats were greater and the men were real men instead of spoilt prima donnas or professional drones ... Read More...

How I invented Ice Wine

Henry accidentally invents a new drink.. One of the drawbacks of having a wife who doesn’t drink very much is that it often means I drink more. Brought up by thrifty parents and taught at school to always finish what was on my plate, I hate to see things go to ... Read More...

Dabbler Diary – The Lives of Others

Like Kim Wilde I was in the nineteen-eighties much attracted to the kids in America. I had a hankering to join them in gang bike rides around their capacious Californian neighbourhoods, and to eat delicious junk food in their diners, and to outwit their Fratellis and other incompetent bandits and ... Read More...

Taghairm

I'm glad that these day we can use Wikipedia to look up the answers to our questions, rather than having to roast a few cats... Taghairm, sometimes interpreted as "spiritual echo," or calling up the dead, was an ancient Scottish mode of divination. The definition of what was required varied, but may have included an animal sacrifice and ... Read More...

Weather Lore

This week, what to say to a Scandinavian peasant about the weather... There are circumstances in which you may find yourself standing in a field alongside a Scandinavian peasant, staring at the sky. The peasant may turn to you and say: Morgenrode gir dage blode, Kveldsrode gir dage sode. What is an appropriate ... Read More...

John Newton – Amazing Life

Today is the 189th birthday of John Newton, a man whose life, even in outline, reads like fiction. Born on this day in 1725 into a family of merchants, John Newton went to sea with his father at the age of 11, was later press-ganged into the Royal Navy, attempted to ... Read More...

A Short History of Useful Idiots

Daniel Kalder examines the phenomenon of otherwise intelligent people falling head-over-heels for murderous tyrants... Mussolini: you might think he was just a blustering fool in a fez, but once upon a time many people took him very seriously. I remember my shock when, aged 15 or so, I learned from my ... Read More...