Bibliography, July 2026

BOTM: S. Freedman, Failed state (2024)

C. De Hamel, The posthumous papers of the manuscript club (2022)
J. Delaforce, The factory house at Oporto (1990)
D. Graeber and D. Wengrow, The dawn of everything (2022)
Hesiod, tr. M.L. West, Theogony/Works and days
R. Hoban, Riddley Walker (1980)
O. Moshfegh, Lapvona (2022)
J. Saramago, The History of the siege of Lisbon (1989)
E. Sanceau, The British Factory, Oporto (1970)

July really got going at the back end. I struggled with Riddley Walker because it was in stupid made up dialect and orthography that made no sense. I struggled with The dawn of everything because they kept moving back and forth with the chronology and the argument wasn't as strong as they seemed to think it was. It was interesting in parts. Meanwhile, Saramago, De Hamel and Freedman were all excellent. I'm not sure why I've not read any Saramago before, but this was a rather lovely. I'm not convinced it was a profound as some reviewers think, and it does require some attention, but overall a minor gem. De Hamel definitely needed attention as it's long, but he writes very accessibly (unlike at least the translated Saramago) and it bounces along. I had heard him lecture on it already, so I had heard some of the best bits (e.g., the feud at the heart of the British Museum in the early nineteenth century), but it was still marvellous. I had heard Freedman talk about his book too, and I do wonder if that took the edge off slightly. I thought it was very clear and diagnostically clear. He has a good line in quick judgements, even if some of the targets are easy, and marshals his case well. I did think he got shakier the further back in history he went, and I felt the solutions for the media section were off, but the prognosis was very good. It feels very timely to be talking about decentralisation right now, and I just hope they don't mess it up (like they have so far). It won't be Freedman's fault if they do; it's a great, and pretty quick, read.  

Bibliography, June 2026

BOTM: J. C. Scott, Against the Grain (2017)

S. Berry, Disappearing world (2023)

L. Booth (ed), Wisden Cricketers Almanack (2026)

K. Gattas, Black wave (2020)
L. Mangan, Bookish (2025)
A. O'Neill, A history of heavy metal (2017)

I. Murdoch, The Green Knight (1993)
A. Roy, The ministry of utmost happiness (2017) 

J. Walton, Tooth and Claw (2003)

I am sad to report that Jo Walton's retelling of A small house at Allington with dragons is enjoyable, but not amazing. I am glad I read it though. I am similarly glad I read Black Wave, which does the good work around noting the period around 1979 as a hinge year for a series of Islamic countries, not just Iran. However, it didn't do enough on the why. I almost gave BOTM to Roy's second novel which I thought was an excellent piece of work, which only slightly sagged int the model. It's clearly political, but not overtly, and I think held things together well. I know why people didn't like it as much as The God of small things and I think they are right, but the gap is smaller than you might imagine. 

My favourite this month did not suffer from lack of a why; if anything it was too reductive. However, I thought James Scott's theory around the centrality of grain to the emergence of civilisation was excellent and thought provoking. I'm very far from a specialist in early states and this was bracing in addressing some of the cause and effect in those debates. I don't think it's all right, but I do think it does its thesis well, and taught me a lot.