Mary Beard minds her S, P, Q and R
Having rattled and routed Mark Antony and his bewitching Egyptian at the battle of Actium in 31 BC, Octavian was…
Proof that the British hardly ever had a stiff upper lip
The last time I cried was September 1989. That was my first week at public school. The reason I cried…
The best of British — from Agatha Christie to the YBAs
Is it true that, having lost an empire, we reinvented ourselves as an island of entertainers? Do we channel the…
Harry’s Homer — a humorous history
It was a certain unforgettable ex-girlfriend, Harry Mount confesses — named only as ‘S’ in his dedication — who came…
How Hollywood is killing the art of screenwriting
Cinema is tough right now for writers. Thomas W. Hodgkinson reports from the front line at the Austin Film Festival
Songs for the road: through his music and his classic car collection Neil Young hopes to escape his childhood traumas
Why do people talk about ‘experimenting’ with drugs when mostly they just mean that they’re doing them? Perhaps, as I…
Confused, unbalanced, brilliant: the Blanche Dubois of Tennessee Williams biographies
Thomas W. Hodgkinson finds John Lahr’s ‘stand-alone’ biography of Tennessee Williams as confused and unbalanced as Streetcar’s heroine
How dare this author trash one of the great screenwriters of the 20th century?
Should one say ‘vicious circle’ or ‘vicious cycle’? That’s a question that just goes round and round inside my head.…
A guide to marriage, moving and fatherhood – and also not a bad tool with which to beat your solicitor to death
Over the past 12 months, I’ve proposed to my girlfriend, moved house, got married, and become a father. The most…
The man who went to Hell and back – for a laugh
Since the passing of Auberon Waugh, there haven’t been many really successful right-wing comedians. The Mayor of London is one.…
Sex, secrets, and self-mortification: the dark side of the confessional
I have a confession to make. I really enjoyed this book. It’s been a while since I admitted something of…
Where artists went to drink and die
Once below a time (to quote the man himself) the bloated poet Dylan Thomas slouched back to New York’s Chelsea…
Did Hollywood moguls really make a pact with Hitler?
At the recent Austin Film Festival, at every ruminative panel or round-table discussion I attended, I slapped my copy of…
Transylvania Diary by Thomas W. Hodgkinson - diary
Ehe-Gefängnis. The word, strictly speaking (which is how one should always speak), means ‘marriage prison’, and refers to an austere…
The Prince of medicine, by Susan P. Mattern - review
In the first draft of the screenplay for the film Gladiator, the character to be played by Russell Crowe (‘father…
Tangier, by Josh Shoemake - review
This may sound a little orientalist, but Tangier has some claim to being the most foreign city in the world.…
Island, by J. Edward Chamberlin - review
‘Tom Island’ — that was the name I was given once by a girl I met on an island in…
