A list of some of the books I have read and enjoyed over the last few years.
This is not intended to be an academic list - I only read narrative history. Don't judge me. The idea of the list is to suggest things that the casual reader might enjoy.
Feel free to share; comment and disagree
1/x
Sure, threatening the end of an entire civilisation isn’t great BUT she used the WRONG EMAIL ACCOUNT
Do the colours signify a hierarchy?
Why did I not know this? Why did no one tell me?
@aiannucci.bsky.social
Just been enjoying (as ever) Strong Message Here.
Your story about the pressure of choosing restaurant water reminded me of this article from last year. When I saw the headline, I thought “self indulgent madness” but the more you read it…
www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...
I see from Newsnight that people are still saying “The Equalities Act”; despite it existing for 15 years
Thank you
Old school Twitter used to be so good and so much fun for UK politics and news updates and commentary.
I refuse to go back to that swamp now but I don’t find the same thrill on here.
I think I’m not yet following the right people.
Who should I follow?
Only just getting round to reading William Hague’s biography of Wilberforce. It is - like his biography of Pitt - tremendous.
Funny; moving; balanced; knowledgeable.
He is an excellent writer.
And put your cynicism aside; this is a great moment of an advocate not knowing quite what to put and then an idea comes to them…
youtu.be/GSu7BGbyJqc?...
Next up: Almost impossible to choose a best court scene from this film but the Grits cross-examination from My Cousin Vinny is just wonderful
Note how basically everyone in the courtroom actually wants to be fair and honest
youtu.be/_T24lHnB7N8?...
Best court scenes in film and television? Reply with yours and clips
I’ll start with two of my favourites.
One, the John Adams miniseries contains some really great trial scenes from the Boston case Adams defended and they culminate in some excellent speeches:
youtu.be/LHnPaDapwhQ?...
Morning @ianleslie.bsky.social
Just a message to say that i really enjoyed John&Paul.
If I'm frank, I wasn't sure that there was much more I could learn about them but I was wrong.
Your writing has made me hear a lot of those songs in a new way
It was a very moving book and I will miss reading it
I have no problem with the length, I just thought a small tidy up would have been in order. I'm only being hyper critical because he is so great
(Please, please, please let him live long enough to finish LBJ)
My most controversial opinion - as someone who adores Robert Caro - is that The Power Broker needs an edit.
Yes, I know this is almost heretical.
Will,
May I suggest some other non-fiction titles?
David McCullough on Truman.
Ron Chernow on Grant.
Alice Keay on The Restless Republic.
Robert Caro on LBJ (Vols 1 - 4).
Yes, that's right, I'm sending unsolicited book recommendations to a man I don't know.
If you are unfamiliar with Killer Mike...
I have not yet finished The Human Factor by Archie Brown but so far it is fascinating and very engaging account of the end of the Cold War by a man who met many of the key participants
It was an enjoyable counterpoint to Rick Perlstein's tremendous trilogy of writing on Reagan and also Killer Mike's "Reagan" track (!)
2/3
On a bit of an 80s vibe at the moment. This history of Reagan does not have enough detail of his economic policies; only gives a chapter to AIDS and doesn't mention his criminal justice policies at all but is very good on his life story and foreign policy
1/3
The voice. The odd eyes. The wooden performance. The mistiming of every line.
Is it deliberate? She was great in Wicked
Fun, isn't it?
This reads as though the Jacobites were around AGES ago
Tomorrow marks 32 years since one of my favourite letters was published:
Richard II; Othello; Great Expectations; Bleak House; One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest; The Wasteland; The Dubliners.
Loved both Shakespeare's; loved The Dubliners; Loved OFOTCN.
Couldn't stand the rest. Makes me a philistine, don't care.
I am a complete beginner at gardening but with a large garden. Mainly lawn and borders. Any tips for a good book to start me off?
@jonathanhealey.bsky.social
Could a Scotsman have fought both against the Crown at Newburn and against the new regime at Dunbar ten years later?
If news of Jimmy Carter's death has sparked an interest in him or the period then I really recommend anything by @rickperlstein.bsky.social but especially Reaganland which is tremendous
One of the great annual pleasures of social media has arrived on Bluesky.
Looking forward to this:
Really enjoyed Republic by Alice Hunt.
There seems to have been a lot of interest in this period recently - The Blazing World; Devil Land; The Restless Republic; the new Ronald Hutton.
This is right up there with the best of them: accessible but informative; really engaging. Recommended.
