Neolithic Man's discovery, Rodin's insight, and William of Occam's wisdom   Imagine Mankind’s awe, when, for the first time, he watched a rock melt in a fire, and out ran a liquid. When it cooled, he saw it was different, and he called it metal. It truly was a...

I’ve walked many ancient sites, but Troy is different. Homer writes of ‘windy Troy’, and when I stood upon the ruined battlements, looking out toward the sapphire sea, it was constant and strong. I thought of exhausted sailors rowing past Cape Sigeion, and their...

Be skeptical, and think afresh... Flying Fish Services Ltd. The Editor of The Ironist has long asked me for my views on the war in Ukraine. For me it is a long way to Europe – let alone across the Atlantic – as I haven’t left the Black Sea. But sturgeons live longer...

Enjoy life more with a little reflection. It’s almost November; a cool breeze blows. Frail, yellowing leaves flicker on branches; their brethren, dried and curled, toss aimlessly as they roll down the street. I need an escape from this coming cold…India! The red dust...

"Granddad, granddad! Book, book!" Nothing matches a baby’s smile. Watch it slowly spread, then burst into a gurgling laugh! That laugh! It’s an infectious laugh that reaches deep into your soul and rips your heart open. Nothing in life prepares you for it. This last...

I have been reading so much nonsense about the American election. The so-called ‘experts’ don’t get it. It is not so much about who is in power, or who is out of power, or what the consequences were, or are, or will be. It isn’t about who was or will be good or bad....

The story is told by his son Dylan of a memorable exchange between Dylan’s father, the Canadian writer William Bell, famous for his novel Forbidden City, and Dylan’s sister Megan. Megan had been reprimanded for some unspecified childish misdemeanour or other, and had...

The Real Cost of War My father’s Combat Report, after responding to a raid on Teignmouth, England, in which six were killed, many injured, and 183 homes and a school were destroyed. „Absturz in See,“ the note said, “ditched in the sea“. Someone wanted the truth to be...

 The blind need a helping hand, but a disability can be a gift                                                                                                                            A maidenhair tree, or ginkgo biloba   A recent article in the Spectator[1]...