Category Archives: Books

‘Fortress Europe’: talk at Housmans

Posted on October 31, 2012 by Matt

Next Wednesday I’ll be at Housmans bookshop in London, talking about my new book Fortress Europe: Dispatches from a Gated Continent with Liz Fekete, executive director of the Institute of Race Relations and the author of the terrific A Suitable … Continue reading →

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Branagh’s Wallander

Posted on July 9, 2012 by Matt

I’m a big fan of Henning Mankel’s Wallander novels and the Swedish television series that came out of them,  and it’s only because I still pine for the latter that I watched Kenneth Branagh’s English version last night. Like its … Continue reading →

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Niall Ferguson – a man of our time

Posted on November 27, 2011 by Matt

I have never read any of Niall Ferguson’s books and I hope I won’t have to.  But I have read his articles and the occasional interview and I have always found him an insufferably pompous, arrogant,  self-regarding prat (eg. ” … Continue reading →

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Rami Zurayk’s war diary

Posted on October 2, 2011 by Matt

I’ve just read Rami Zurayk’s magnificent War Diary: Lebanon 2006, a searing account of the 33-day Israel-Hizbullah war that began in July 2006, when Hizbullah carried out a cross-border raid in which 2 Israeli soldiers were kidnapped and 3 killed. … Continue reading →

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