Author Archives: leslie

Britain-on the edge of a precipice

Britain – on the edge of a precipice, by Stuart Millson In 1940, with the massed-armed forces of Nazi Germany over-running Western Europe, the French General, Weygand, staring at his country’s defeat, declared: “The Battle of France is over. I … Continue reading

Posted in QR Home | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Endnotes, July-August 2025

Endnotes, July-August, 2025 In this edition: vintage recordings – de Falla, Bliss – from the SOMM label; a tribute to conductor, Ronald Corp OBE, by Stuart Millson Siva Oke’s SOMM label continues to enlarge its archive of classic, or more … Continue reading

Posted in QR Home | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

A Song that Descended from the Heavens

A Song that Descended from the Heavens by Darrell Sutton For those who wish to study the astrological content of Manilius’ Astronomica, it is derived from two sources: its Latin text and a much later published English translation. For the … Continue reading

Posted in QR Home | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

More Light

More Light Bernd Roeck, The World at First Light; A New History of the Renaissance, translated by Patrick Baker, Princeton University Press, Princeton & Oxford, 2025, 1144pp, hb, reviewed by Leslie Jones According to Sir Francis Galton, “The ablest race … Continue reading

Posted in QR Home | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Fire in the Hole

Fire in the Hole By ‘Gas Bill’ Perhaps the greatest threat to life in the British coal mining industry was gas explosions. The total casualty figure attributed to this source between 1837 and 1927 was 3,500. Following loss of life … Continue reading

Posted in QR Home | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Endnotes, May-June 2025

Endnotes, May-June 2025 In this edition: Rachmaninov’s last great orchestral work; Delius, a paradise garden revisited; on Manx shores… music to a silent film, reviewed by Stuart Millson New from the Chandos label comes an eagerly-awaited instalment in the Sinfonia … Continue reading

Posted in QR Home | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

The Spectre of Spengler

                              The Spectre of Spengler David Ashton on Der Untergang des Abendlandes A death-sentence concentrates the mind wonderfully, to paraphrase a famous Tory lexicographer. People are born, flourish, weaken, and pass away, but so do nations and empires. … Continue reading

Posted in QR Home | Tagged , | 12 Comments

Cakes, Quizzes, Corpses

   Cakes, Quizzes, Corpses, by Bill Hartley The current Peruvian Minister of the Interior Juan Jose Santinavanez Antunez was appointed in November of last year. He is the sixth Interior Minister in the current government; that’s an average of one … Continue reading

Posted in QR Home | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Wily Amphibian; Velasco, between Art and Science

Wily Amphibian; Velasco, between Art and Science José María Velasco, A View of Mexico, Dexter Dalwood & Daniel Sobrino Ralston, Yale University Press, Catalogue of the Exhibition at the National Gallery, 29 March-17 August 2025, reviewed by Leslie Jones The … Continue reading

Posted in QR Home | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Hope, Tempered by Realism

Hope, Tempered by Realism Hopeful Pessimism, Mara van der Lugt, Princeton University Press, 2025, Oxford & Princeton, HB, 255pp, reviewed by Leslie Jones According to Max Weber, the development of religions all over the world was predicated on one pertinent … Continue reading

Posted in QR Home | Tagged , | 2 Comments