This historical novel begins just before the outbreak of World War I with Karl Radek waiting to hear if he has been expelled from the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SDP).   Sean Sheehan   The matter is controversial and Lenin does not support his expulsion. Radek suspects, all too […]

Michael Marder’s pocket-sized “Philosophy for passengers” is the perfect book to fit in your backpack or wheelie when making a journey.   Sean Sheehan   You are, at some stage, consumed by the exhilaration or dread that is prompting the travel but this book, acting as both distraction and therapy, […]

Military histories tend to be less-than-riveting for readers who are not war buffs – and who wants to join that club? – but novels based around non-fictional episodes of warfare can fill the gap created by our need to know more about significant moments of military history.   Sean Sheehan […]

Of all the great paintings in Madrid’s Museo Nacional del Prado, the one that possibly attracts the most visitors is Hieronymus Bosch’s “Garden of earthly delights”.   Sean Sheehan   It is a large triptych – over 213 cm (seven feet) high and 365 cm (12 feet) wide – but  […]