Eating the world

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

A shotgun blast of flawed brilliance

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

Necessary questions

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

True history

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

Founding a field

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

Deniable plausibility

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

Action stations

Kim Stanley Robinson keeps coming back to what might be described as ‘environmental fiction’, and ecological themes are never far … More

A world of experience

I’m not too sure why it’s taken me so long to get around to reading Hilary Mantel’s novels about the … More

History of tradition

I think I’ve burnt myself out on research now. There’s a lot more I could read to expand my thinking … More

An orrery of thought

Having finished reading Neal Stephenson’s epic historical trilogy The Baroque Cycle it’s quite hard, on reflection, to recall everything that’s … More

Putting medicine in its place

The historian Roy Porter was known during his lifetime as a ‘one-man book factory’, a prodigiously productive scholar who wrote … More

The last man who knew everything (about bread)

Mostly if I want to find out about something (I call it ‘research’ when I’m feeling self-important), I look on … More

Nurture writing

I read an interview with Suzanne Simard in New Scientist and it brought tears to my eyes. Her description of … More

Hardy perennials

Kim Stanley Robinson is known for not writing stories about soldiers, or other stereotypically heroic figures—which in our deeply fucked-up … More