BLOG POSTS

‘His hair… hanging in disorder about his face, gave his restless looks an expression quite unearthly.’ In Barnaby Rudge, first published in 1841, Charles Dickens gave his readers an historical novel, basing his scenario around the Gordon Riots of 1780. These took place in London and were motivated by anti-Catholic sentiment. The Papists Act of 1778,… Read More

Five prisoners of war from the American Civil War escape in an observation balloon and crash-land on an unknown volcanic island. David Stuart Davies takes up the story of The Mysterious Island. The greatest of all science fiction writers in the nineteenth century was Jules Verne (1828 – 1905). In fact, he was regarded as… Read More

David Stuart Davies looks at three collections by a master storyteller. Here are three books which have the power to transport you well away from a world in turmoil to the realm of fairy tales, legendary adventures and charming folklore. I refer to the Tales of Troy and Greece, Tales of King Arthur, and Tales… Read More

David Stuart Davies looks at the fourth and final complete novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald. ‘I don’t ask you to love me always like this, but I ask you to remember. Somewhere inside of me, there’ll always be the person I am tonight’. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s life was as exotic, dramatic and eventually as tragic… Read More