The same novelist wrote Planet of the Apes and Bridge on the River Kwai

Thanks to Will Howells for giving me my Trivial Fact of the Day. The films Planet of the Apes and Bridge on the River Kwai were both based ...

Why everyone always receives a great reception on the doorstep

Nothing is more tedious than those tweets telling you that campaigners from every party have just received "a great reception on the do...

Madam C.J. Walker

We were watching Antique's Roadshow (as one does), when a copy of "Text Book of the Madam C.J. Walker Schools of Beauty Culture...

Seasons, Silliness And Something Special

Without question I am considered an ardent fan of winter.  Hiking or snowshoeing through the woods or across an open field with my canine pa...

Thomas Cromwell: "Myself for Launde"

© Stephen Craven From English Buildings back in 2008: Launde Abbey was originally an Augustinian priory founded in the 12th century. Beauti...

Common Sense Gardening: Five outdoor tasks you can do right now

The recent unseasonably warm weather is allowing for more opportunities to get outside and do some yard work. You may be wondering what kind...

The Kidnapping of Tony Stephens from Earl Shilton

Earl Shilton is a fairly nondescript village in Leicestershre ... But in 1959 and 1960, suggests this startling film from the British Pathé ...

New Get Ready St. Valentine's Day e-cards!

Get Ready has created four new preparedness e-cards for 2015 to add to the 10 we produced last year. So forget spending 20 minutes in the c...

A biography of Moura Budberg

Back in 2007, I wrote a short article about Moura Budberg for the New Statesman website. Moura may or may not have been a Soviet spy: she w...