Tag Archives: book

Yellowknife – North West Territories

This is an excerpt from my forthcoming travelogue about Canadian cities. For me, Northwest Territories is where the scale and grandeur of Canada hits home. Northwest Territories is 1 million square kilometres bigger than Germany, whose population is over eighty million. The Acasta Gneiss, the world’s oldest rocks–at least those measured by the radiometric datingContinue reading “Yellowknife – North West Territories”

Gdansk – 8

The next room moves on to 1980. An economic crisis led to the Communist government authorizing an increase in food prices for the summer of 1980. Once again a revival of labor disturbances erupted throughout the nation. Workers of the Lenin Shipyard in Gdańsk went on strike in mid-August, sparked by the firing of AnnaContinue reading “Gdansk – 8”

British 70s protest-music chronicle wins music book of the year

Daniel Rachel’s Walls Come Tumbling Down, an exhaustive account of the Rock Against Racism, 2 Tone and Red Wedge movements, takes the Penderyn music book prize

Weimar memories: walking Berlin … in a flâneur’s footsteps

Armed with Franz Hessel’s cult guidebook, Walking in Berlin, published in 1929, Vanessa Thorpe is transported back to the city’s decadent period

London book fair: not so common deal for Jarvis Cocker as publishers chase Britpop stars

Ex-Pulp frontman’s book on creativity heads for six-figure deal, while Suede’s Brett Anderson memoir is also signed

Travels through History: France

Mystery and History in France The south-eastern part of France has an abundance of historical interest. From the Roman theatres of Arles and Orange to the Cathar castles in the foothills of The Pyrenees there is much to see and remember. There are mysteries too. Why would the Roman Catholic Church create a crusade againstContinue reading “Travels through History: France”

Sports the Olympics Forgot – The Anti-Pope Games from Avignon

This is an excerpt from the Anti-pope Games story in my book, Sports the Olympics Forgot The next oldest race is the Greyhound Race that dates from 1621. Here the artificial hare is chased around three laps of the track by greyhounds dressed in monk’s costumes. The hare wears a Papal Crown and carries a Papal Staff.Continue reading “Sports the Olympics Forgot – The Anti-Pope Games from Avignon”