Fiction

Don Quixote is the best book out there on political theory, followed by Hamlet and Macbeth. There is no better way to understand the tragedy and the comedy of the Mexican political system than Hamlet, Macbeth and Don Quixote. They're much better than any column of political analysis.

Subcomandante Marcos

Thursday, 10 December 2015 23:00

Short Story: 2019

Written by Gerry Rowe

in Fiction

“When did you last eat?” The woman’s voice was kindly yet matter-of-fact. The calm way her eyes rose from the paperwork to meet his suggested the case held no surprises for her. “The day before yesterday.” William Stokes invested the reply with the measured control, all self-pity suppressed, he’d cultivated…

foodbank sanctions cab

Book review: Mrs. Engels, by Gavin McCrea

Written by Paul Simon

in Fiction

Gavin McCrea was inspired to write this fictionalised account of Lizzie Burns by the fleeting references to her in Tristram Hunt’s biography of Engels. Obviously, had he read the superior description of the latter’s life by John Green, he would have learnt a little more about her. Nonetheless, the relative lack…

Lizzie Burns Engels Manchester book review

Book review: A Very British Ending, by Edward Wilson

in Fiction

Written by Paul Simon

I confess: I was always going to be personally, professionally and critically supportive of this engaging and intriguing novel. For between all the various British, American and Soviet spies who populate this book, the real hero is……Harold Wilson. I’ve had a soft spot for the maligned (maligned that is by right-wingers and…