How they Broke Britain by James O'Brien

 

When I came across this book all those months ago in Gairloch I was very much in two minds as to whether I wanted to read more about the woes that Britain is suffering and who was responsible.  It has taken a while for it to get to the top of my reading list.

The book starts with chapters on the right wing press from Murdoch to Andrew Neil and then gets onto politicians.  The early chapters I found rather dull and overly complex with multiple characters that I was not particularly familiar with.  The writing seemed to jump about leaving me wondering just who was being discussed at the time on many ocasions.  I was unimpressed and uninspired and felt a distinct sense that I was getting little from the book.

As the chapters turned to political figures with Farage being the first to feature it did'nt draw my attention much more.  Then as David Cameron entered the narrative I suddenly felt a sense of engagement - it became fascinating.  I wonder to what degree this was related to my own areas of interest or did the author suddenly become enlivened.

James writes about Cameron's background, the Bullingdon Club and the general sense of entitlement that stems from the elitist education that he and others of his ilk went through.  The content here was not particularly new to me but the analysis was fresh and engaging.

The next chapter dealing with Jeremy Corbyn had me even more enlightened.  It still puzzles me why so many people whom I regard as being well informed and critically thinking were so impressed by Corbyn.  It was interesting to read how figures such as Gordon Brown were concerned about his ascendency.  The background to Corbyn's association with jihadists gave me perspective on the concerns that many expressed about his sense of judgement.  I also learned that his team went to great lengths to keep him away from serious political interviewers for fear that the flaws in his policies might be exposed.

The remaining chapters on Johnson and Truss simply reinforced the views that I already had on these two.  His analysis of Johnson is particularly excoriating and frames him as being entirely driven by self interest.

It was after all a worthwhile read while not being an exceptional one. 

If Russia Wins A Scenario by Carlo Masala

Carlo Masala is Professor of International Politics at Bundeswehr University Munich.  He has an impressive CV with roles in Nato Defence College and Centre for Intelligence and Security Studies.  This book is no amateur scare story.

Recent history has shown that predicting geopolitical events is a sphere into which the wise would be well advised not to venture.  This however is a predicted scenario that is worthy of attention.  The author takes us through a series of future events that follow Putin's predicted victory over Ukraine.  These are the very events that all those who have lent support to Ukraine have feared.  The Coalition of the Willing - those thirtyone countries who pledged support for Ukraine - seemed to be a committed body at its inception.

The book describes how largely domestic events overtake the earlier resolve that members of the Coalition held.  How much does the Russian incursion into a small Estonian town matter ?  What are the risks of escalation into WW3 if Russia is confronted ?  Will this seemingly insignificant incursion be the end ?  How much have the lessons from Hitler's pathway been learned ?  

Russia's words represent a striking mismatch with its actions.  Worryingly the mismatch of the words of the West with its deeds strike a chilling chord.

 

The Meaning of Geese by Nick Acheson

 I started reading this book at the end of last winter just as the wintering geese on the Solway were departing for their breeding grounds.  I was so enthralled by the content and so much liked the direct but nevertheless lyrical writing style that I temporarily shelved it.  This was because I wanted to be immersed in my local north Cumbrian wintering flocks of geese while reading it.  The past few weeks have seen vast flocks of Barnacle Geese return to the Solway from their Svalbard breeding grounds and returning Pink-footed Geese from where they breed in Iceland.  The scene was now set for me to finish the book.

This book is generally to be found under the 'Nature Writing' section in bookshops.  This category is one with which I have some difficulty.  I would have a preference for placing it somewhere that reflects its degree of specialisation and authority.  This is no run of the mill 'Nature book'.  It is interesting and probably significant that while Nick has written columns in some prestigious publications this is actually his first book.

The form that the book takes is by progressing through the winter starting in September with the earliest arrivals of geese and concludes at the end of April when most have departed.  It recounts Nick's journeys on an old red bicycle around the lanes of north Norfolk as he searches for flocks of geese.  He is a native of that part of Norfolk and keeps in contact with James McCallum that wonderful water colourist whose speciality is geese and also with a few other knowledgeable observers and ringers of geese.

The narrative while being based on Nick's travels around his local area also brings in a wealth of information related to when the different species of geese arrive and depart and also where their core breeding areas are located.  The whole text comes across as being completely honest; it is sprinkled with details that give atmosphere while it never seems forced or includes unnecessary embelishment.

This is undoubledly one of the most enjoyable, inspiring and informative accounts that I have read.  I would have little hesitation in awarding it my wildlife related book of the year.

The Kremlin's Noose by Amy Knight

 I have long had a fascination with Russia from reading Sholokhov novels in the late 1960s to several visits to Russia in the 1990s including sailing out of Vladivostok on a fishing boat into Peter The Great Bay and passing by the Russian fleet in complete openness.  How times have changed.

This book was a delight !  The author is an authority on Russian politics with a PhD in the subject from the LSE where she later taught and followed that by a couple of decades at the US Library of Congress as a specialist in Russian and Soviet affairs.  The writing is good and clear and marred by the only occasional 'gotten'.

The book traces Putin's career from his rather less than prestigious days as a KGB Colonel through to his apparently reluctant appointment as Russia's President under Yeltsin's direction up to the present time.  It is not just about Putin however.  It gives us insights into the complex manoeuvrings of Russian politics with a dizzying array of players who rise and fall with an intensity that makes British politics seem incredibly civilised in comparison.  The falls are in a different league from those that we see within western politics - exiles, killings and apparent suicides predominate and the advice not to drink the tea is less of a cliche than a stark reality.

It was interesting to be reminded that Yeltsin was a real advocate for democracy and that Russia was heading in a very good direction in those days when we felt that the world offered real optimism.  Even Putin's early days as President involved constructive meetings with western leaders.  How did it all go so wrong ?  The idea that Russians have a slave mentality was suggested as being a contributory factor and that brings to mind the frustration shown by the protagonist in The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists.

I was puzzled by the reference to the US Congress adopting the Magnitski Act by a surpisingly reluctant Obama.  This act had been promoted by Bill Browder who writes persuasively of its value - so why the reluctance ?  Perhaps I have much to learn !

Despite the clearly negative tale that is told of the Russian decline into authoritarianism this was nevertheless a very uplifting read that showed the command and understanding that the author brought to the subject and the way that she conveyed it so eloquently.

In Search of One Last Song by Parrick Galbraith

This title appealed to me when I came across it in the Gairloch Bookstore because it had 'disappearing birds and the people trying to save them' on the front cover.  That was to a large extent because of my fifteen year involvement with monitoring and protecting Hen Harriers in Cumbria.  I wanted to read about the ways that other pople were trying to give protection to threatened species of birds.

Beyond that I had looked in the index and found the names of people whom I'd either met or heard about.  This was going to be interesting !

On embarking on the text I found the style quite quirky, it certainly wasn't mundane.  There was a lot of incidental detail designed no doubt to set the scene and make the reader feel part of the conversations  taking place.  Some of these became rather waring and  repetitious - how many times did I want to hear of the sweat trickling down an assorted selection of arms, brows and more.  The people he had conversations with all seemed to have a propensity for 'sucking air between ther teeth' - again not something that I felt I needed to know about.  All in all the writer seemed to want to add colour to the narrative - but for me that was all a bit too forced and just too much.

The writer travels Britain and meets quite an array of rather marginalised characters.  There was little doubt that these people shared concerns about disappearing species, but were they really trying to save them in a purposeful way - it didn't seem like it.

There was nevertheless some interesting information of a historical nature sprinkled among the many unusual interactions but these took rather a lot of finding and many got buried under much seemingly irreleant detail.  On a few occasions I was just getting interested in his conversation with a particular character in some remote location when suddenly the narrative had jumped to somewhere completely different and new characters and locations were introduced in a confusing way without sufficient context.

Ultimately if you like flights of fancy with endless questionable detail then this is a book for you.  If on the other hand you want to learn about some of the many people who are working hard to save species through hard work on the ground or habitat requirement research then you should probably look elsewhere.

 

Not another one - podcast

 

This represents an unusual departure form the usual content of this blog in not being a book.  It does satisfy the disclaimer 'Mostly' and certainly conforms to the stated content in that it is a political podcast.

I find politics a difficult sphere to understand and one in which it is difficulkt to get meaningful perspectives.  I don't find the BBC particularly insightful although I did enjoy Politics Live for a time when Jo Coburn was in the chair.  The printed press and online political platforms are generally highly partisan.

I had quite a long period of enthusiasm for the podcast Oh God What Now particularly when Ian Dunt, Dorian Lynskey, Alex Andreou and Ros Taylor where regular panelists.  This podcast arose from the former Remainiacs.  Then times changed and the cast became less to my liking.  Beyond that I grew aware of the 'echo chamber' element of this along with so many other platforms.  A wider perspective on the world of politics seemed an important thing to look for.

'Not another one' references Brenda from Bristol in her response to the news of another impending election.  This is not particularly pertinent but it does give a flavour of the podcast which includes a nice thread of humour.  The main tenet is to provide a cross section of political thought and for the discussions among the team members to be completely respectful.

The four protagonists shown in the image are, from left to right -

Tim Montgomerie.  A former Tory and indeed the creator of the website ConservativeHome.  He has written for most of the major broadsheets and has had advisor roles for the Tory party.  He has recently Joined Reform.

Miranda Green.  Writes for the FT and had former politcal roles within the LibDem party.  She brings a lively ingredient to the podcast.

Steve Richards.  A well known political journalist with a history with the BBC, Guardian, Independent and the New Statesman.  He runs a very good podcast 'Rock and Roll Politics'.

Iain Martin.  Has links with the Times and Telegraph.  He also brings a wine buff element and advocates Co-op wine choices.

So here we have two shades of the right in Tim Montgomerie and Iain Martin and two shades of the left in Steve Richards and Miranda Green.

I find the episodes refreshingly lively and they give a broad political perspective.  It is stimulating to hear political views that don't align with my own interrogated and all this in very good humour.

The Naked Neanderthal by Ludovic Slimak

Following reading Alice Roberts' trilogy and having recently delved into contemporary genomics I was excited to learn more about this interesting hominid.

I often find that the transition between one writing style and another is one that takes a little time to adjust to.  Perhaps it was the case that with the recent books that I've read having been particularly well written I was expecting something similar.  From the very start I found the writing style rather opaque - I would often reread a sentence in search of meaning.  As the book is translated from the Russian this perhaps contributed to these difficulties.  On the other hand a translation can provide an opportunity rather than being a burden.

Beyond the style of the writing I found the content was rambly.  I kept going in the hope of learning something tangible while being taken off at various tangents.  The author is fond of referring to Ancient Greek thoughts which I found particularly irrelevant as the Ancient Greeks knew nothing of the Neanderthals.

In terms of genetic information this turned out to be scant.  I was frustrated to learn that modern humans contain some Neanderthal genes whereas no human genes have been located within the Neanderthal genome; but what are the implications in this ?

On the more positive side I did learn that Neanderthals inhabited Europe before Homo sapiens

arrived at which point Neanderthals rather mysteriously became extinct.  There is apparently no real explanation for this.

 

The Screaming Sky by Carles Foster

 

I noticed this book while browsing the tables in the Hillbillies Bookstore in Gairloch.  The author's name struck a cord and I remember reading 'Being a Beast' some years ago on the recommendation of a friend.  That was an extraordinary read about how he, by way of experiment lived as a badger.  I opened the book, read a few lines and went to the paying desk.

The writing was the main draw.  I just love and revel in good writing: for me it is reward enough in itself.  By the same token I have given up on books that are seemingly written without any inspiration of style; this may be quite apart from the interest in the content.

The author confesses to being obsessed with Swifts.  He travels the world at the drop of a hat to sit and watch Swifts in far flung places from southern Europe through central Africa to the far south of that continent.  I was not expecting to learn about Swifts but I did.  And I learned much about this incredible species in a very easy and enjoyable way.  Charles feeds the reader information about Swifts that he has gleaned through extensive reading of scientific papers but does so through the rich and enthralling narrative.

We learn a lot about the author's psyche and he comes across as a very emotional character with many vulnerabilities.  He clearly has a very keen intelligence and also has great self-awareness.  He walks a very fine line while speculating on what the birds may be feeling while managing to avoid the trap of anthropomorphism.  The text is amusing while the humour is light.

Current scientific tools such as geolocators and satellite trackers have given us a wealth of new and often unexpected information about many wild creatures in recent decades.  Despite this there is still much that is not understood when it comes to enigmatic and unusual species like the Swift.  Charles is clearly fascinated by these gaps in our knowledge and understanding and highlights these alongside the recent facts and hypotheses that have emerged.

These days I rarely gravitate towards the Nature Writing section in bookshops.  There's just something about the idea of reading about nature in that rather wooly way that I want to withdraw from;  rather I want to actually experienc nature in a very direct way.  It sometimes feels as if writers have a Nature Writing mission.  It did not feel this way with this book; I didn't feel as if I was being told about Nature: I felt as if the author was writing about his experiences and feelings - not so much for my benefit but more just to express his own enthusiasm, joy and ultimately his obsession.

This is a very special book written in a very special way about an even more special species of bird that has captured the imaginations of many of us.

Hiking with Nietzsche by John Kaag

This is one of the books that I picked up at the Hillbillies Bookstore in Gairloch.  I have to admit that I was so fascinated by the title that it has jumped the queue in my reading list.

The author is an academic philosopher and has mde two journeys in the Alps that retraced Nietzsche's footsteps.  One journey was as a young man and the other in middle age having become a parent.  At the onset of reading this I had only a very vague notion of Nietzsche's ideas.  I knew that the Nazis took him as a model for their malign operation. But the truth is that this was a very selective hijacking of his ideas and one that was amplified by Nietzsche's sisiter's wanting to further her nationalistic ideals.  She dealt with his affairs following his death so that she was able to manipulate his philosophical ideas for her own ends.  The truth is that he was neither nationalistic nor was he anti semitic.

I enjoyed the read which takes the reader on the author's Alpine walks while weaving in Nietzsche's thoughts and fragments of his writing.  John clearly empathises with Nietzsche's psyche and found the journeys punctuated with reading Nietzsche's books helpful in 'becoming who you are'.  I did not share that empathy and interestingly neither did John's wife whose philosophical leaning is toward Kant who was very much rejected by Nietzsche.

I was interested to get further perspective on Nietzsche so I reread Bertrand Russels section on him in 'History of Western Philosophy'.  This was useful and interesting too that Russell clearly had no affinity for Nietzsche.  I looked also at Nigel Warburton's chapter on Nietzsche in his 'A Little History of Philosophy' and at the end of this Nietzschean immersion I think I have some understanding of this brilliant but very trouled character. 

 

The Challenges of Democracy and the Rule of Law by Jonathan Sumption

I picked this book up on a recent visit to Cogito Books very much on impulse and based largely on a general interest in the subject and also having heard the author speak on the R4 Today programme.

It was not an easy read and much less so than I had expected.  I found myself rereading sentences more often than I would have liked.  While it is clearly intended for a general rather than a legal audience there are rather frequent legalese turns of phrase that I found rather unclear on many occasions.  It was not all bad news however and many of the issues that he raises were fascinating and insightful.

The idea that democracies are vulnerable mainly from within came as something of a surprise but he supports that view quite eloquently.  Jonathan tells us that we in Britain expect much more protection from the state than was once the case; we have become more risk averse.  This leads governments to make decisions based on what the public is likely to blame them for rather than what is best for society.  He clearly takes a very critical view of the covid lockdowns and describes the approach as Hobbsian.

While considering democracy he warns us that autocracy which is what many democracies degenrate into is a very bad form of government and often leads to quick and bad decision making.  This argument counters the often held view that democracy leads to paralysis and indecisive measures being taken.

There are some interesting elements of conflict discussed - that of morality versus consent for instance.  This amounts to the dichotomy  between the moral ideal and what is acceptable to the populace.  Privacy and security are in similar conflict.  He frames the undesirable result of the winning of 'consent' over 'morality' as 'majoritarian tyranny' - shades of Brexit perhaps ?

Hillbillies Bookstore and Trading Post, Gairloch

 The signpost in Gairloch pointed to the Town Square and for want of any better destination we headed that way.  Shortly we came upon two rather gaudy buildings next to a small car park.  In any other setting I would probably have dismissed the idea that this was somewhere worth investigating: it was however 'the only game in town'.

We found our way in via the Coffee Company entrance and immediately the aroma held promise.  On entering the book section the shelves of books were interspersed with cards quoting Orwell, Oscar Wilde and various other characters in that same vein.

I was not particularly in need of reading material having recently visited the excellent Cogito Books in Hexham where I came away with these four -

... more on those later.

The selection of books was very impressive and I came away with copies of Hiking with Nietzche and The Screaming Sky.  It felt very refreshing so see a range of books that seemed to have been selected with real feling rather than the more usual 'best sellers'.  And that 'real feeling' was very much in line with my own preferences and had a strong environmental and ethical leaning.  We resolved to return later that day for an afternoon coffee and cake.

The plan for the day involved being outside walking while the rain held off and then repairing to sheltered places once the grey skies threatened.  And so in advance of the coffee another browse of the books was just too tempting.  This time I selected James O'Brien's How they Broke Britain - this is an author I haven't read but I had heard him in other media and so was receptive to the idea of dipping further into his material.  I came away with In Search of one Last Song too in the interest of some balance in the direction of natural history.

These will all be reviewed in due course, as will the haul from Cogito.

The Orchid Outlaw Ben Jacob

 I have had an interest in British native orchids for over twenty years and have travelled widely to see these plants.  The title consequently held an irresistable allure.

This is first and foremost a very good read.  It can be enjoyed simply because Ben tells a good tale.  There is more however and the book gives us some interestinhg historical content, it enlightens us on some legal matters and it shows how environmental protections often fall well short of what we expect of them.

Ben is an outlaw but one with laudable motives.  He transgresses the law in digging up orchids that he knows are about to be destroyed in a way that does not beak the law.  He tells us that environmental impact assessments which are required before construction projects can proceed are often inadequate; they can fail to identify the presence of orchids simply because they are hard to detect and would need to be searched for at restricted times of the year and with great diligence. 

The breeding biology of orchids is complex and differs in many ways from most other vascular plants.  Having read this book I now understand aspects of orchid anatomy and physiology that were never clear to me before.  We all know that Darwin was a remarkable scientist but I certainly did not know that he studied orchids in great detail and discovered aspects of their cross-polination that were new to me.

Schedule 8 of the Wildlife and Countryside act of 1981 gives greater protection to a select group of plants that includes eleven orchid species but omits some seriously declining species.  Even these species that have enhanced legal protection are left vulnerable as they can be desroyed if their destruction was unforseen - this is quite a get out !

Ultimately this is an inspirational account of one man's mission to save a group of plants that is just one small part of the threatened wildlife of out own country and of the world.

Genomics Step by Step Michael Roberts

 I have dipped into genetics a few times over the years and found the terminology frustratingly opaque.  What is an allele, can we see it ?  There seemed to be elements with names but without clear functions.  Terms such as 'junk DNA' made me suspicious, was it really junk ?  We can see chromosomes but what about genes ?  And how do they sit with chromosomes ?

Increasingly I have read about genetic testing.  I heard that a Siberian Lesser Whitethroat was confirmed as such by sequencing the cytochrome b gene from a feather sample last year; this was a first for my home county of Cumbria.  But why that gene ?

A search online produed a lucky find.  This book was published in 2025.

The field of genomics (so called because it deals with the entire sequencing of base pairs rather than looking simply at genes) is advancing fast.  It has grown alongside IT improvements as it relies heavily on data analysis.

The book is arranged in chapters and while the author tells us that we can dip in at any point, I think a systematic work through is essential.  This is particularly so for readers without a good grounding in contemporary genomics.

It is very systematically layed out, it's not chatty, there are no anecdotes but is is very clear.  The groundwork is layed out in advance of the more complex aspects such as medical applications and ethical implications.

One thing that has always puzzled me is that the human genome project was completed in 2003.  But whose genome was sequenced ?  There is no single genome as we are all genetically different.  Well, it turns out that the first genome to be fully sequenced was that of James Watson a few years later.  Yes, that same Watson who discovered the double helix along with Francis Crick.

Another interesting revelation is around that of the formerly named 'junk DNA'.  Unsurprisingly, this is no junk; it influences the expression of genes.  It turns genes on and of and amplifies and supresses them.  This is an absolutely vital function.  So many conundrums become clear.  This is not to say that everything is now understood.  Michael Roberts makes it very clear that cetain elements and functions are still not fully understood.

I now understand that a gene is a discreet section of a chromosome, it has a start point and an end stop along the chain of DNA that is the double helix.

It is all so elegant and the book explains that elegance with great simplicity.