The War Room
A reference-work profile of the first English writer to win the Nobel Prize, and a diarist’s refusal to settle the argument on one entry Kipling from Bombay to Stockholm: Plain Tales, Kim, the White Man’s Burden and a Reputation That Fell After the First World War A reference-work profile of the first English writer to … Read more
A novel that gave the world Vande Mataram, praised as a landmark and criticised for pro-British and anti-Muslim bias, read through a Wikipedia summary Anandamath, 1882: Bankim Chandra’s Novel of the 1770 Famine, the Sannyasi Rebellion and the Song That Became India’s National Song A novel that gave the world Vande Mataram, praised as a … Read more
A literature diarist reads a trade circular and notices what it leaves out, which is nearly everything with a number in it The UK-India Trade Deal Took Effect on 15 July 2026: A Freight Forwarder’s Note, a Government Forecast and No Tariff Numbers A literature diarist reads a trade circular and notices what it leaves … Read more
From The Captive Ladie in English to Meghnad Badh Kavya in Bengali, as Wikipedia summarises a career of two languages Michael Madhusudan Dutt, 1824 to 1873: A Bengali Epic in Blank Verse, a Gray’s Inn Training and a Man Ignored for 15 Years After His Death From The Captive Ladie in English to Meghnad Badh … Read more
A literary diarist on a short life, three posthumous books and a sourcing problem or two Toru Dutt, 1856 to 1877: The Calcutta Poet Who Translated French Verse in England and Died at 21, as the Wikipedia Page Tells It A literary diarist on a short life, three posthumous books and a sourcing problem or … Read more
A Greenwich reader of Victorian and Anglo-Indian fiction reads about deposits on the flying Tesla Roadster and turns to Trollope’s The Way We Live Now Saturday, 17 October 2026. Greenwich, South East London. A terraced house on Crooms Hill, the park gates opposite, a pot of Assam brewed too strong on purpose, a two-volume The … Read more
A Greenwich reader of Victorian nonsense reads about Piers Morgan demanding emergency action against a courteous chatbot and recognizes the crowd Lear called They Wednesday, 21 October 2026. Greenwich, South East London. The Painted Hall cafe at the Old Royal Naval College, a cheese scone, a battered Complete Nonsense of Edward Lear with my childhood … Read more
A Greenwich reader of Anglo-Indian writing reads about Harry and Meghan insisting they are private citizens and opens the letters of a Governor-General’s sister who was stared at across India Monday, 19 October 2026. Greenwich, South East London. The Caird Library at the National Maritime Museum, East India Company logbooks on a trolley beside me, … Read more
A Greenwich reader of Victorian fiction reads about British husbands attending dinner parties mainly to check the television package and opens Our Mutual Friend Saturday, 24 October 2026. Greenwich, South East London. My dining room the morning after a dinner party for eight, a stack of plates, a red wine stain shaped like the Isle … Read more
A Bengali poet who changed his name, his faith and his language to be English, failed, and then wrote the epic that changed his own He Wanted to Be Byron and Became Something Better: The Wild Life of Michael Madhusudan Dutt I have a paper due on Friday and I chose my subject three weeks … Read more