Monthly Archives: December 2013

Another re-post, from an LRB blog (2 July 2012). Forget all the books – I think this is one of the best things I’ve written. It may be because I’m a professional historian, and so proprietorial towards my subject, but … Continue reading →

I’ve just been sent a popular book about Scandinavia to review. It’s by an Englishman. As a long-time English resident in Sweden (on and off), I always feel nervous and rather defensive when I come across books like this. This … Continue reading →

The UK does averagely in the ‘Pisa’ tables, comparing student performances around the world. Michael Gove (our minister) blames the lack of progress on the previous Labour government. Sweden does disastrously, plummeting in all subjects. People there blame it on … Continue reading →

I have a love for the game of cricket bordering on the religious, and on the incomprehensible for non-Anglo Saxon friends of mine. And Australia has long been my favourite country, certainly of those I have lived in. So I … Continue reading →

(I thought I’d begin this brave new venture by re-posting a piece that Kajsa and I recently posted on the LRB Blog.) Hannes Råstam’s Thomas Quick: The Making of a Serial Killer was translated into English earlier this year. It is highly … Continue reading →