Map-fuelled idiocy
Beware the map-mad-man. Grappling with the shifting boundaries and complexity of German, let alone European history, needs maps. I am...
Daft and marginal
I liked this description of a region being 'daft-and-marginal' before splitting in two, with one half somehow managing to rule...
Gum-burning brandy
A toothache-anaesthetizing solution gives a jaunty air to this fun concept of the Dullest Exhibition-case Award. But lest you think...
Lavender-flavoured comfits
Winder's witty and summary dismissal of the less interesting Haydn symphonies, cranked out for aristo-soirées. And isn't that a marvelous...
Headache-inducing explosions
Now you know why the Jesuits' stupendously lavish baroque churches needed all those gilded churrigueresque curlicues, to better serve a...
An encounter with competence
One of the pleasures of reading Simon Winder, apart from his lightly worn, wit-woven erudition, is the passing comments regarding...
Alert to danger
This made me laugh out loud when reading Simon Winder's Danubia late one night. Parents ever-so-delicately trying to inveigle their...
Maps meet Frankenstein
The re-making of maps as Frankenstein collage. How much havoc has torn harmony apart with such unrelated stitchings together?
‘It...
Mucus-flecked imprecations
This is history up close and personal. Winder’s sweep of early Germania (and with it gobs of early Europe), includes...
Of besieged landscapes
An unusual simile to describe a highly fortified landscape with a troubled history. For some wondrous word-paintings of beautiful landscapes...
Wine and conveyor belts
There must be a good study of wine in European trade and war. England’s sometime claim to half of France...
Near-Dakotan awfulness
With apologies to Dakotans, but Winder's lack of political rectitude is part of his charm, and you can be assured it’s...
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