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Since the 1940s, when big bands were last big business, few of them have had any longevity. The orchestras of…

Eating the world

Not many of us, I suspect, think of the British Empire much in terms of food. I certainly didn’t, before…

This beautiful and moving short comic by Xulia Vicente (published by Shortbox, natch) is allegorical and speculative in equal measure.…

Seveneves is Neal Stephenson in his pomp. This book combines all his most splendid qualities as a writer: his febrile…

Having taken a total break from playing music at the onset of the pandemic, I’ve been gradually coming back to…

I found my way to the Snowpiercer comics by way of Bong Joon-Ho’s excellent 2013 movie, but they are legendary…

Fifty Degrees Below takes over more or less exactly where Forty Signs Of Rain leaves off, but it shifts focus…

This small book, published in 404 Ink’s ‘Inklings’ series, covers a subject close to my heart—since starting to listen heavily…

We were on holiday in Northumberland, near Hadrian’s Wall, visiting lots of Roman archaeological sites, so we thought we’d watch…

It’s a long time since I’ve been to a museum or a gallery, what with global pandemics and everything. We…

Finally, an academic has written a book about what I spend most of my time doing. Well, I say finally……

This is the second cook-book that I’ve read simply because it happens to be a comic published by Shortbox. Like…

I’ve been on a mission recently to catch up with the output of two of my favourite writers, Kim Stanley…

I spent a while back there in the early noughties thinking that all the fusions had been tried, and that…