Books X

Here are some more books that I have recently read and HIGHLY recommend. Click on the links if you want to buy them. If you click on the link and purchase something a lovely charity called the Living by Giving Trust (see here) will earn some money to support its causes. :) I supported them recently, and though I've not been to any of their events, I have supported them as much as possible. This is one way I can do that.

I love reading by the way! Can you tell? I've always got five or six books on the go, which is a bit silly - but then I eventually find one I finish; and then move on to another one I've half-read. To be honest, it's very easy to start reading a book on a long train journey and get bored of the reading - so it's good to have another book waiting to be read. So, this is why I end up with a few books on the go - but it works for me at the moment. Anyway, here are some books that I've read over the last few months, and I really do highly recommend them all!

This is an oldie book, but there's nothing wrong with that! Is there? No! The Real Benny Hill is a really great, great book, and so interesting. Benny Hill was such a sorry and lonely figure - but then I suspect he was OK with this. The book is written by one of his friends and is a really intimate and beautiful portrait, but it is also one that tries to understand Mr Hill. Pick up cheap copy today? Use the link above.

Secondly, if you're interested in the family background of Princess Diana, you can't do better than The Spencer Family by Charles Spencer. It provides another intimate portrait - this time of a famous family throughout lots of English history, and then a VERY famous family after Diana Spencer married Prince Charles. Well recommended.

And finally for now, and away from the biographies, here's my next recommendation, which is a classic: King Solomon's Mines (Oxford World's Classics). If you want to read a classic Victorian-era novel, full of adventure and high-jinks, then you can't go far wrong with this book. Read today.

More soon! :)

Books IX

Here are some more books that I have recently read and HIGHLY recommend. Click on the links if you want to buy them. If you click on the link and purchase something a lovely charity called the Living by Giving Trust (see here) will earn some money to support its causes. :) I supported them recently, and though I've not been to any of their events, I have supported them as much as possible.

As you can probably see, I've not had time to update this recently, but that's because I have been travelling the world. Why? Well, because I am in my 70's and have always wanted to see a bit of this world I read about. This has meant that I've had an opportunity to read (mainly dog-eared copies) a few books, which I will outline below (and in further blogs)...

The First World War: John Keegan is a really excellent historian and author. The First World War was a truly awful tragedy, and should never ever have happened. This book looks at all the causes, the after effects and then looks into the different fields of war - East; Africa; Gallipoli and then the Western Front. If you want a good introduction with lots of detail - here is the book for you. Read today.

As you will have seen in my last blog (see here), I love any historic book - especially if it's Roman stuff. However, I also like novels written about the era. The next book I read recently was Roman Blood (Gordianus the Finder 1). What a book this man has written and he describes the period so brilliantly and makes it feel so very real. I must read more of this authors books, and have now purchased Rubicon so I can read much more. I can't recommend these books as much as I do. Get it today, the author (Saylor) is well worth a read.

If you have not read any Adrian Mole books, you really must. I've just read the next edition, Adrian Mole: The Wilderness Years (Adrian Mole 4), and it was truly excellent. I can't wait to read the next one now.

More updates soon, but please keep reading; and let me know what you think! :-)

Doctor Who - Colin Baker era, part 1

After all that reading, I thought it was time to talk about something else in my blog: my favourite programm, Doctor Who! As you would have seen before, I am a big big fan of when Doctor Who first started, and particularly the first two Doctor Who's. However, I am not one of those fans that will dismiss all the hard work of later producers, and I find a lot to enjoy in the eras of Pertwee, Baker, Davison, Baker, McCoy, McGann, Ecclestone, Tenant, and Smith. I particularly enjoy the McCoy era, because I think it was finally trying to get Doctor Who back on track, and it was 80% successful; I also really enjoy the modern era of Doctor Who (and love the Hartnell/Troughton retrospective stuff - like the photo, or the Macra!). Anyway, I thought I would do something very different on this blog as I thought it was time to re-look at the Colin Baker era.


I have met Colin Baker and do feel sorry for him (and McCoy) sometimes, because they are often lambasted as the wreckers of Doctor Who (though I think the blame is really at the door of JNT, BBC politics, Coronation Street, and so much more). In fact, both Doctor's were really excellent and playing the part at the wrong time - people had simply stopped loving Doctor Who. If you listen to them from Big Finish - this is how things should have been - you'll love them. Buy the first audio from here - The Sirens of Time (Doctor Who). Anyway...


...here are my views of the first quarter of Colin Baker's television time as Doctor Number Six! Click on pictures if you want to buy them. If you click on the link and purchase something a lovely charity called the Living by Giving Trust (see here) will earn some money to support its causes. :)





The Twin Dilemma: The problem with this story is that it comes along straight after Doctor Who - The Caves Of Androzani , which was Peter Davison's final story. The Caves of Androzani is everything that the Twin Dilemma is not: stylish, clever, sad, brilliant, beautiful. Why and how could this have happened? Well, John Nathan-Turner had decided that it would be a great idea to copy the production team of 1966 and bring in the new doctor somewhere in the season, so that the audience could see the new doctor, and then (according to his theory) be more excited when Colin Baker returned. Alas, this does not work in 1984, for various reasons, but especially as the production team had run out of money, so the Twin Dilemma looked cheap and a bit rubbish. Plus, the new Doctor was so different from the fifth incarnation, viewers were left shocked and (like me) a bit appalled! In 2012, however, and viewing the story out of this context, it is not all bad. It has some interesting elements, like the characters of Azmael and Mestor and I enjoyed this side of things..but the rest is pretty rubbish! I'd give it a 5/10. Sorry! :(





Attack of the Cybermen: Now this is more like it. The Attack of the Cybermen is the first episode of a new series, and is a good story. As ever, with this season, the story relies on past stories of Doctor Who, including The Tenth Planet and The Tomb of the Cybermen (which as a big fan of that era, I love the connections!). The TARDIS is lured to Earth in 1985 by a distress call sent by Lytton, who has made contact with a group of Cybermen based in London's sewers. The Doctor and Peri are then captured and forced to take Lytton and the Cybermen in the TARDIS to the Cybermen's home planet Telos. The Cybermen have stolen a time vessel from another race and plan to change history by crashing Halley's Comet into Earth and obliterating it before it can bring about the demise of their original home world, Mondas, in 1986. 8/10. Doctor Who is back on track. Well done to all involved on this one, I loved it. :)


Part Two coming soon, but for now please let me know what you think?

Books VIII

Here are some more books that I have recently read and HIGHLY recommend. Click on the links if you want to buy them. If you click on the link and purchase something a lovely charity called the Living by Giving Trust (see here) will earn some money to support its causes. :)

The Odyssey (Penguin Classics): This is the all-time classic mythology piece from Ancient Greece. This story (by the mysterious Homer) is about a great Greek hero of the Trojan war era: Odysseus. He is the King of Ithaca and in Homer's The Iliad (Penguin Classics), he is seen characterised as a very resourceful and clever man (who had the idea of the Trojan Horse). Unfortunately, unlike the other Achaean Kings, he does not get home straight away and a number of fascinating adventures ensue. Odysseus is also constantly at odds with the great sea-god, Poseidon and he requires the support of the goddess Athena to get him through it. I don't want to give too much more away, but Odysseus meets such fascinating creatures, such as a Cyclops; The Sirens; Scylla and Charybdis; and so much more!

I love and still love this book - it really is a brilliant story AND one of the oldest ever in western civilisation. I highly recommend this book. 10/10.

Doctor Who: Shada: The lost adventure by Douglas Adams is lovingly novelised (and edited) by the great Who author, Gareth Roberts. I don't want to spoil this book, but it really is a beautiful masterpiece and I highly and utterly recommend any fan of Adams or the Tom Baker era of Doctor Who buy it and read it today! You will not regret it at all! 9/10. :)

Another book recommendation

I've just finished the first book of CJ Sansom's series about a hunchback lawyer. It is so very rare to find historical fiction that actually makes you think and feel like you are in the time being described. However, Sansom perfectly manages it in Dissolution (Shardlake).

The novel is set during the time of the Dissolution of the Monasteries, and in these pages we meet or hear about great historical figures like Cromwell; Anne Boleyn and so many others. However, we also get to read how a monastery and its monks must have felt during the time of Henry VIII's changes, and it is a really amazing depiction. We also get to hear Shardlake (the main protagonist) sharing his view of how good he thinks the changes are, and how annoyed he gets with the monks.

I couldn't put this book down, please go out and read it today!

Dissolution (Shardlake)

More books VII

"At last, he's back!", I hear you cry! Except, I don't hear you cry it, because either a) that means I have upset you; or b) there's actually no one reading any of my reading material; or recommendations. I suspect the latter. :) Here are some more recommendations from me, but this time with a theme of LONDON.

St Pancras Station (Wonders of the World): Let us not forget that until recently, St Pancras station was a dump - after years of neglect. Now, it is a wonder of the world, and rightly so! It was often the forgotten station, a great cathedral of trains. This book is a great introduction, and is really excellent. It tells the fascinating story of how the station and hotel were built, and just shows how impressive the whole structure is. After reading this book, I promise you that the next time you travel from St Pancras to Paris or Brussels you will have to look up! 7/10.

London's Dead: If you're fascinated about the history of London's dead, then this is the book for you! It details information on so much death, and in so many areas of London from plague to execution. I found this absolutely fascinating and the author provides so much information. 9/10.

Necropolis: London and Its Dead: Unlike the above book, the author discusses in more details, the many cemeteries and graveyards in London. If you have ancestry in this great city and wanted more information on the parish churchyards, or the cemeteries, please read this book. From the horrible parish churchyards of Portugal Street (near Holborn, and where my ancestor of the same name was/is buried) to the true cemetery cities of St Pancras & Islington Cemetery and other Victorian masterpieces - this is a fascinating book. 8/10.

60 Years

2012 is a momentous year for us royalists, because Queen Elizabeth II will be celebrating sixty years on the throne of Great Britain. I've already discussed my love for the Queen here, so instead I am going to talk FACTS. She is only second to Queen Victoria in longevity as our monarch, but is a lot more active that Queen Victoria (who rarely came out publicly after the death of her husband, Prince Albert).

Did you know that our Queen has been on the throne for so long, that her reign has surpassed those of her four immediate predecessors combined (Edward VII, George V, Edward VIII, and George VI), after which she became the third longest reigning British or English monarch, the second-longest-serving current monarch of a sovereign state (after King Bhumibol of Thailand), and the oldest reigning British monarch.

Today, she broke another record and becomes the longest-living British head of state, when she overtook Richard Cromwell.

To overtake Queen Victoria and become the longest reigning monarch in British history, Elizabeth would have to live to 10 September 2015, when she would be 89. To surpass the reign of King Louis XIV of France, and become the longest reigning monarch in European history, Elizabeth would have to live until 26 May 2024, when she would be 98.

It's very possible too, after all, the Queen Mother lived to 102.

God Bless, the Queen. Thank you, Ma'am for everything you do for us.

I recommend you read the book below too:

More to come...

Promise I am going to write more by the end of February. I've managed to read a few more books, so will review them here soon.. PS, I hope it is not too late (I suspect it is) to wish you a very Happy New Year (well, at least the Chinese one which is coming up!)...