Clik here to view.
Andrei Platonov – The Good Stalinist
Can Stalinism and good writing ever be compatible? As a fan of Soviet literature, one of my great frustrations is the lack of good writing from a pro-Stalin perspective. There is no shortage of books...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Disappearing Acts: Shelagh McDonald
Jonathan Law returns to The Dabbler with the first in an occasional series looking at people who chose to disappear… Here he tells the remarkable tale of folk singer Shelagh McDonald… Sometimes you...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Witchfather
Reggie is a London-based lawyer who blogs here, here, here and, actually, elsewhere. It’s quite difficult to introduce him as he has such a wide (and erudite) set of interests. Anyhow, we’re delighted...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Curb your Enthusiasm – A Comedy of Manners
Multi-talented author Henry Hitchings’ new book Sorry! The English and their Manners has garnered glowing reviews. In an exclusive post for The Dabbler, Henry explains why Curb Your Enthusiasm is the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Alcohol and The Anglosphere
In a special guest post, Canadian commenter Peter muses on the English-speaking world’s various attitudes to booze… The British and Americans have more in common than language to divide them. The...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Edward Bulwer-Lytton: Peerless Unreadability
Nige pays tribute to the exceptional unreadability of the originator of “It was a dark and stormy night”… Edward Bulwer-Lytton, born in 1803, was a hugely successful novelist in his day, now all but...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Supreme Haircuts of the Universe
As the world trembles before the latest North Korean threat to nuke anyone dissing them, Daniel Kalder wonders whether he who controls the style of hair, controls the world. The other week, ifeng.com,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Woman of Uranium
Baroness Thatcher was inarguably a towering figure of the 20th Century and her legacy will be debated fiercely elsewhere on the internet. But here on the Dabbler, we just want to pay tribute to her...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Disappearing Acts 2: Rosemary Tonks
Following his post on the folk singer Shelagh McDonald, Jonathan Law continues his occasional series on artists who have vanished into thin air with a look at a strange and possibly brilliant poet… If...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Compelling Machinery VII: The Largest Computer Ever Built
We’ve done dirigibles, jets, battle ships and steam engines. Today, Scott Locklin introduces us to a crazy machine they called SAGE. While cold war jets are an old interest of mine, almost everything...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Benjamin Robert Haydon – bad painter, fine writer
He was a friend of Keats and almost as fine a prose stylist – what a pity then, that Benjamin Robert Haydon wanted to be a painter… Keats, Bewick & I dined together, Keats brought some friend of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Bottom gear
Hello Ivan, got a new motor? Daniel Kalder finds that the notorious Lada is still selling well in some parts of the world… I first learned about the legendary Soviet Lada car in the mid-‘80s, when the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Flaming June
Nige reflects on the enduring appeal of a high Victorian painting… ‘Flaming June eh?’ we sigh, and roll our eyes, as the rain siles down relentlessly, the cold wind blows, and temperatures struggle to...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Where politics meets zoology
From rearing horses to hungry sparrows – the provocations delivered to the world’s dictators by members of the animal kingdom. The US comedian WC Fields famously said never to work with animals and...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Musings of a fiction writer
Top ad man and author Ben Kay graced these pages back in 2011 with a personal insight into the world of a blockbuster fiction writer. Via his brilliant ad-industry blog ‘If This is a Blog Then What’s...
View ArticleClik here to view.
On the Empire of the Ants
How ‘small’ science can produce big thoughts. The internet is generally a wasteland of cat memes and political invective. Once in a while it serves its original purpose in disseminating new ideas. I...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Notes on an Island off the Coast of the EU: History
Following his posts on our geography and sporting pastimes, David Cohen continues his (very) occasional series giving a US perspective of the British with a succinct summary of our history… The...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Compelling Machinery VIII: Soviet Interceptors
Dual engine Ye-152a More compelling machines (previous ones in the series are here). Today Scott Locklin digs up some Cold War flying dinosaurs. Are they the most fascinating mechanical objects ever...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Remembering Dickie Henderson
Nige remembers a once hugely popular ‘comedian’… This month sees the 127th edition of the Scarborough Cricket Festival… Ah the memories…Back in my boyhood days, I’d often be there, with my brother,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Inexplicable in any language – The Museum at Alte
Toby Ash makes an unexpected and bizarre discovery amongst the golf courses and white washed villas of Portugal’s Algarve…. The Algarve is not on most people’s cultural map. Lazing about in the sun, a...
View Article
