Allan Massie
Machistory
Curios Scotland: Tales From A Hidden History
By George Rosie
Granta Books 244pp £14.99 order from our bookshop
GEORGE ROSE IS one of Scotland’s most versatile and talented men of letters. He has written plays and at least one good novel, and been a journalist (on the Sunday Times) and a documentary film-maker. He has, like Kipling’s Elephant’s Child, a ‘satiable curiosity. This book of essays and squibs displays to good effect his ability to come at unexpected subjects from surprising angles.
Sign Up to our newsletter
Receive free articles, highlights from the archive, news, details of prizes, and much more.@Lit_Review
Follow Literary Review on Twitter
'Thirkell was a product of her time and her class. For her there are no sacred cows, barring those that win ribbons at the Barchester Agricultural.'
The novelist Angela Thirkell is due a revival, says Patricia T O'Conner (£).
https://literaryreview.co.uk/good-gad
'Only in Britain, perhaps, could spy chiefs – conventionally viewed as masters of subterfuge – be so highly regarded as ethical guides.'
https://literaryreview.co.uk/the-spy-who-taught-me
In this month's Bookends, @AdamCSDouglas looks at the curious life of Henry Labouchere: a friend of Bram Stoker, 'loose cannon', and architect of the law that outlawed homosexual activity in Britain.
https://literaryreview.co.uk/a-gross-indecency