In an occasional series Daniel Kalder examines the literary endeavours of the world's dictators. First, a topical look at the oeuvre of Muammar Gadaffi of Libya. A mumbling, murderous, Ukrainian nurse-fondling tyrant he may be, but – even as American bombs rain down from on high – you've got to hand it to Muammar ... Read More...
Politics
Peter Kosminsky’s four-part drama The Promise reached the half-way mark on Sunday (if you missed them, you can watch the first two episodes on Channel 4 OD). Eight years in the making and filmed entirely in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories (not the easiest places to work), each episode is ... Read More...
Much praise has been righteously showered on Out Of The Ashes, Tim Albone and Lucy Martens’ film about the Afghan national cricket team, screened as part of BBC Four’s Storyville this week (Catch up with it here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00ydj1r). All of the big and obvious themes are there, but what makes it ... Read More...
Stephen Clarke is the author of A Year in the Merde and numerous other books which take an irreverent look at the French and at Anglo-Gallic relations. In an exclusive post for The Dabbler, he explains why Les Rosbifs have been irritating their continental neighbours for a millennium... 1000 Years of ... Read More...
I have at home a cheapo (not Naxos, but similar, you know) CD of some orchestra or another playing Saint-Saen’s Carnival of the Animals and other children-friendly pieces. I’d never noticed until the other day that it has a quite magnificent bit of cover art. It is The Goose of the ... Read More...
So all three party leaders are now 40-something, male, Oxbridge graduates. Apart from the cut of their suits (and Ed's likely to get a better tailor now) in demographic terms there's not a lot to choose between them. It's not unusual for the three major party leaders to share a background ... Read More...
[We try to offend only when we mean to here at The Dabbler so I should warn you that this post contains some bad language. It's at the end. There'll be something else along soon enough if you don't fancy it.] I like reading American political history and I love reading ... Read More...
