Fascinated by the endless variations of sea and sky. Cloudy but calm today and the sea only a shade darker greyish blue than the sky. But often not blue at all. Or sapphire. Or layered.
Endless read aloud books. The advantage of being able to read ebooks. That and being able to read at night without reading lamps. Though “real” books still best for reading outside in the sun. So just finished reading a biography written by Patrick Cockburn, for years now our favourite Middle East journalist. He’s balanced, insightful and brave - has spent years in the countries he writes about, mostly Iraq and Syria. The biography is an account of the life and journalistic career of his father, Claud. Claud Cockburn was an independent journalist with integrity and courage in spades. Unashamedly of the far left but not a party man - MI5 wasted quite a lot of time as well as taxpayers’ money looking for nonexistent conspiracies - he was drawn to the frontlines of ideological conflict, living in Germany in the early thirties and joining with the anti-Franco Republicans in the Spanish Civil War. A fascinating book.
And, somewhat accidentally from the same period - that is Germany in the thirties - have just bought and begun historian Timothy Ryback’s latest book Takeover: Hitler’s Final Rise to Power. It’s an intensive account of the six months leading up to Hitler’s becoming chancellor. As one extremely enthusiastic reviewer put it: “…even though one knows the horrible outcome, right up to the very last pages of the final chapter, it seems impossible that the evil little man will ever become Chancellor”.
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