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Great events in history
5:10pm Wednesday 3rd December 2008
Two great events in medieval history – the siege of Malta and the battle of Lepanto – are classically depicted by Roger Crowley in Empires of the Sea (Faber, £20), a panorama of the conflicting interests between Christendom and Islam. This is a crusading book on an epic scale, painted in glorious colours for a wide audience with characters as diverse as the Barbary pirates, the Knights of St John and the Ottoman janissaries.
Local author
5:11pm Wednesday 3rd December 2008
Former Harwell scientist John Sandalls has written a history of National Service, drawing on his own experience in Northern Ireland. National Service Revisited, £9.99, can be ordered from bookshops or from the author at Tamara, Locks Lane, Wantage, OX12 9DB
Chris Gray's best books of 2008
5:12pm Wednesday 3rd December 2008
Though I have read little new fiction in 2008, I greatly enjoyed the debut novel by public relations guru (and old friend) Simon Astaire, Private Privilege (Quartet Books, £15), which supplies a thinly disguised picture of his unhappy schooldays at Harrow. If nothing else, it sets one wondering why parents waste the money . . .
Monsters to remember
5:14pm Wednesday 3rd December 2008
The most memorable book I’ve read all year was Engleby, by Sebastian Faulks (Vintage, £7.99). I’ve been a fan since his heart-stopping First World War love story Birdsong, but all his subsequent books seemed to fall short. This one continues his preoccupation with madness, and the eponymous narrator is so unreliable that we feel as bewildered as his acquaintances seem to be (he has no friends). Although I had some inkling of the clever ending, it still took me by surprise.
Accomplished first novel
5:07pm Wednesday 3rd December 2008
Unquestionably, my best book of the year was Fieldwork by Mischa Berlinski (Atlantic Books, £11.99). The story concerns an American anthropologist serving a life sentence for murder in a Thai prison, and a young reporter who is obsessed with getting to the truth of the murder. In doing so, he plunges full length into the world of missionaries, and of Thai tribesmen, with all their superstitions and taboos. It’s an astonishingly accomplished first novel, hard to put down, and shattering to finish.
Understanding Italy today
5:09pm Wednesday 3rd December 2008
Italian history features on my list this year. Italy’s Sorrow: A Year of War 1944-45 (Harper Press, £25) was a fascinating, if depressing accompaniment to a trip round Italy in April. My immigrant Italian grandfather chose to fight for the British when the Italians entered the First World War.
Flawless, Rivalsand Julia
3:35pm Wednesday 3rd December 2008
The older he gets, the more Michael Caine seems to be happier with nostalgia than novelty. He featured in Sylvester Stallone’s dismal remake of Get Carter, assumed the Laurence Olivier role in Kenneth Branagh's wholly unnecessary reworking of Sleuth and spoofed his Harry Palmer spy persona in Austin Powers in Goldmember. He’s even butled for Batman. But nowhere has Caine seemed more comfortable of late than as the janitor planning a diamond heist in Michael Radford’s period romp, Flawless.
Comments (0)Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa
3:37pm Wednesday 3rd December 2008
Animal magic is in short supply in Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, a colourful computer-animated sequel for the entire family which cheekily recycles the plot of The Lion King. Eric Darnell and Tom McGrath's film strands its menagerie of misfits in the wild, where they discover the courage to follow their hearts and to reclaim a birthright as king of the jungle.
Playing jazz with a classical slant - Preview of concert by Eclectica!
3:31pm Wednesday 3rd December 2008
Guitarist Pete Oxley is not a man to let the grass creep up around him. He is not only a jazz musician but also a bow maker with a considerable reputation among classical string players. Despite this challenging position, he has found time and energy to set up the Spin Jazz Club with drummer Mark Doffman, now one of the most respected jazz venues outside London, write the music for his own quintet, Curious Paradise, which has already brought out two albums, perform and record with fellow guitarist Luis D’Agostino, and most recently put together a group that employs two of the finest classical players in the country.
Nando's, George Street, Oxford
3:40pm Wednesday 3rd December 2008
Before last week, my one experience of Nando’s had been a rather nasty meal at its Cowley Road operation shortly after it opened six or seven years ago in what had previously been the Prince of Wales pub. The sweet taste of the glutinous coleslaw remains with me to this day. As can be imagined, then, I didn’t exactly rush to sample the second Oxford branch when it opened at the beginning of the year at the west end of George Street, where the Opium Den used to be.
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Editor's choice
Early taste of Christmas wine
This week is The Oxford Times Wine Club Christmas Tasting and, with just four weeks to go until Christmas Day, it is an excellent opportunity to sample a specially-selected range of wines for the festive season.
The Mole and Chicken, Easington, near Thame
One of the pictures on this page gives a good impression of the delights to be enjoyed at the Mole and Chicken on one of those sunny days that now seem as far as can be from our present situation.
Imagine This: New London Theatre
I had trouble shifting my +1 for the musical Imagine This, which opened last week at the New London Theatre. No-one was interested (one German friend would have come, but funnily enough I hadn’t thought to ask him), and while nobody actually said, “Sounds like a gas”, there were plenty of unprintable responses, averaging out at: “Holocaust – the musical? Um, no thanks . . . ”
Hansel and Gretel: Oxfordshire Touring Theatre Company
Another winter rolls in and, to cheer our spirits, Oxfordshire Touring Theatre Company travel hither and yon through the county with colour, music and fun trailing in their wake. For those of us who live in villages these harbingers of the festive season are a welcome sight.
Patto - I deserved more time
Sacked Oxford United boss Darren Patterson feels he was “so close” to bringing the club success.
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