WRITER & HISTORIAN
Over the course of this morning, thousands of people will gather in Leicester for the re-interment of the bones of Richard III. Many more – hundreds of thousands certainly – will watch proceedings on TV as Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and the actor Benedict Cumberpatch speak at the ceremony. What does it mean,... Continue Reading →
My Londonist Out Loud podcast with N Quentin Woolf, recorded in the lovely gardens at Hampton Court on Wednesday, is now available for download – either from the Londonist website or from iTunes. We chatted about various London-related matters, including the commercialisation of the Houses of Parliament and the ongoing privatisation of public spaces, among... Continue Reading →
The DVD of The Hollow Crown series of BBC Shakespeare films is now out. When I reviewed the films over the summer – links to my pieces are here – I saw them out of sequence, so I am very much looking forward to watching them through again as they were meant to be seen.... Continue Reading →
Film-maker Temujin Doran contacted me in the summer of 2010 with the intention of making a film based on The Balloonist’s Tale in my book Impossible Journeys, which recounted the failed 1897 attempt by Salomon August Andrée to reach the North Pole by hot air balloon. In the end, Doran decided to make a different... Continue Reading →
Just a brief post to note that I've just set up a Facebook author page, which will hopefully complement my blog and Twitter feed – as well as overlap in places! Do come and say hello: it's great to get to know people and keep in touch. Any suggestions are always welcome.
As mentioned last week, Norman Geras was kind enough not only to invite me to contribute to the Writer's Choice feature on his website, but also to allow me to split my contribution over two weeks. My first piece, on Rudyard Kipling and The Jungle Book, can be read here. The second piece, posted today... Continue Reading →
I was hugely flattered to be asked by Norman Geras to contribute a piece on a favoured book to his Writer's Choice series. After much indecision - which may well end up reflected in another post here at some point - I finally chose Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book, and you can read the resulting... Continue Reading →
