Rome
From Octavian To Augustus
Jochen Bleichen’s biography of the Emperor is monumental but highly readable
Cento Ground
The cento is a sophisticated and demanding poetic form — and best suited to schoolboyish ends
Overrated: Marcus Brutus
How much truth is there in the myth of the “noblest Roman”?
The Decline and Fall Industry
Could anxiety over the future of the West be behind the publication of so many books on the fall of the Roman Empire?
Why Remoaners should back Boris
“Boris, ironically, now offers Remoaners the best chance of a soft Brexit, or at least a sensible one. And to those who want a second referendum—’the people’s vote’—there may even be a chance of that too.”
On the road
“In the summer of 1980, in the grip of some Kerouac-ish fantasy, I opted to hitch-hike from Laredo to New York”
Discovering the Great War of China
A third of a million Chinese labourers helped the Allies defeat the Kaiser, but their huge unsung contribution ended in betrayal