Eight Big Men in Black-and-White Tracksuits
As the Commonwealth Games return to Scotland, Ronnie MacLennan Baird recalls his controversial appointment as a Technical Aide at the 1986 regatta.
The Hand of a Cheat
As England once again try to escape the group stage of the World Cup, Robert Taylor casts his mind back 40 years to the last time Mexico hosted the tournament, and Maradona’s infamous ‘Hand of God’ incident.
(Winter) Olympic Ambition
As this year’s Winter Olympics draws to a close, Becky Clark offers some tips to boost future engagement.
Less of that!
Emigre writers tell us about the gifts they wish would just stop giving. *UPDATED SPORADICALLY FROM DECEMBER 1 THROUGH TO DECEMBER 24*
Insanetiago
“The riot police started firing tear gas from their guns.” Dominic Hilton remembers an ill-fated city break he took to Santiago, a few weeks before the start of the global pandemic.
The Counterfeiting of Robert Gray
An extract from Spycraft: Tricks and Tools of the Dangerous Trade from Elizabeth I to the Restoration, out this week in paperback.
News At A Glance #40
Homeless actors, breeding programmes, Humpty-Dumpty, and anxious readers. The Emigre’s latest round-up of world news.
Stella Rimington BA DG DCB PhD (but not KGB) RIP
Philip Ardagh on a memorable evening spent in the company of the late spy chief.
Time Taken to Walk a Thousand Miles to the Tempo of 500 Miles
All measurements given in miles (mi) for public convenience.
Daggers at the Font
An outtake from Thomia: The Entangled Histories of Lanka & Her Greatest Public School, out today.
Total Whiteout
ASH Smyth talks to RS Burnett about his Antarctic thriller debut, and the long road to publication.
On Will-fullness
Why are we so desperate to believe that William Shakespeare wasn’t William Shakespeare?
Where Was I?
Martin Rowson on the original unfilmable (and indeed unreadable) ‘anti-novel’, Tristram Shandy.