I went to St Helena, one of the remotest spots on the planet. I flew thousands miles to get there, travelling down a continent and then across an ocean. When there I met wonderful people, saw entrancing countryside, visited historic locations, scaled heights to enjoy exhilarating views. I spent two weeks in the most exoticRead More
Does the road wind uphill all the way? Yes, to the very end. Will the day’s journey take the whole long way? From morn to night, my friend. Christina Rossetti, ‘Uphill’ When I was on St Helena, I undertook the finest walk that I have ever experienced. This is the story of that walk. ItRead More
None of us entirely likes the stories others tell of us. The pleasure of acknowledgment is countered by the failure of comprehension. No one ever quite gets us right. This is notably true of St Helena. Aside from the misrepresentation of the far-away island by tourists such as myself, with quick opinions based on fleetingRead More
One of the things I was determined to do when visiting St Helena was to see a game of cricket. Though the island has a population of just 4,500, it supports eight teams who take part in a highly competitive league. It is an affiliate member of the International Cricket Council, and in 2012 tookRead More
The founding figures of many societies are lost in myth. Perhaps the Romulus and Remus of Rome, or Moses for the Jewish people, had some grounding in historical figures, but there is no way we will ever know. In any case, the idea of a founding figure is a myth in itself, as if anywhereRead More
There’s a song about air travel by Flanders and Swann which never gets round to being a song at all. Available on their 1964 LP At the Drop of a Another Hat, ‘By Air’ has Michael Flanders giving a humorous preamble about the pleasures and tribulations of flying, with each well-crafted gag getting a laughterRead More
Once upon a time wars, like stories, had a beginning, a middle and an end. Two sides lined up over an issue, or set of issues – land, honour, race, faith – and fought. In fighting they abided by a common set of rules, or seemed to. One side won, and gained the objective. TheRead More
It’s great to be able to report that the number of Charles Urban catalogues freely available online is growing. Charles Urban – just in case you didn’t know – was an Anglo-American film producer who specialised in non-fiction and educational film in the first twenty or so years of cinema. I manage a website aboutRead More
A novel was published recently, Heinrich Gerlach’s Breakout at Stalingrad, which has an extraordinary history behind it. Its author fought on the German side at the Battle of Stalingrad. He was captured by the Soviets, and while imprisoned he wrote a novel about the war, the manuscript of which was confiscated. But upon his releaseRead More
A new film, as yet untitled, made by Peter Jackson (of Lord of the Rings fame) and his company WingNut Films has just been announced. Commissioned by the UK World War I centenary art organisation 14-18 NOW, and scheduled to be premiered at the London Film Festival in November 2018, with cinema and school showingsRead More