Zazou and Rebecca back cover

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Alone in Berlin Hans Fallada, 1947 Hans Fallada is one of those accomplished, poignant and engaging authors that hardly anyone has heard of. A lack of translations cannot be given as an excuse: even mainstream bookshops occasionally have at least one of his novels on the shelves. Libraries likewise. But as a book that […]

May 1968

Next May is the 50th anniversary of ‘May ’68’. ‘May ’68’, for those not old enough to have been around at the time, appeared to be a second French Revolution, gathering momentum before our very eyes. Paris, particularly the Left Bank, was in turmoil. Students at the universities had gone on strike. Both they […]

Yoga Freak

(A story, for a change, while I am preparing my next blog…) Yoga Freak Simon’s architectural work was killing him. He ate too little, drowned in a stream of office coffee, and slept and dreamed and woke in a turmoil of incomplete projects. Unfortunately for his wife, she still shared their bed. ‘For God’s sake, can’t […]

‘Sedentary Activism’, or: The Art of Taking to the Streets From Your Chair

It is a truism that the internet has increased the ease with which we locate information and communicate with other people. It is also obvious that a great deal comes to our attention that we might otherwise never have discovered. This is particularly true when we do not simply stick rigidly to those areas that […]

Rohingya: ‘Ethnic Cleansing’ in a Buddhist country?

Occasionally, those with an interest in Buddhism make the comment that Buddhists are peaceful and peaceable, that they are the only ‘religion’ that has never started a war or engaged in violence. Unfortunately, this is a predominantly Western-idealistic view, and there are countless instances where it is plainly not true. Tibetan Buddhist activists have ambushed […]