The esteem accorded to the UK’s 94-year-old monarch has much to do with her longevity. People well into their eighties and nineties tend not to provoke visceral antipathy to their very existence. It takes a Margaret Thatcher or General Pinochet to achieve that level of distinction.   Sean Sheehan   […]

When Cassius Clay, a descendant of a slave, became heavyweight boxing champion of the world in 1964 he rejected his slave name (‘I didn’t choose it and I don’t want it’) and, before becoming Muhammad Ali, referred to himself as Cassius X.  Another Black American, Malcolm Little, also rejected his […]

Syria has been in a state of war for ten years and President Bashar-al Assad is still in charge of the country. The increasing evidence of his military victory has come at a devastating price: over 400,000 Syrians killed and a refugee crisis named by the UN as the largest […]

Anna knows only too well that growing old means losing partners, friends and acquaintances. Her birthday party – and she won’t have many more – forms the opening chapter of “Beyond the Storm”.   Sean Sheehan   Diana Finley’s absorbing novel goes on to unfold the story of Anna’s life […]