Those of you interested in refining the art of the perfect holiday read might be interested to know where I have got to with this earth shattering quest, following my last post on this subject. The most important news is that I have already read the first and fattest novel on the list, American Wife… Continue Reading
Author Archives: Melissa Benn
Does the monarchy still matter?
Read Melissa Benn’s contribution, among others, to a recent debate on this subject in the New Statesman. Continue Reading
Save our local everything!
Read Melissa Benn’s first post on the new Public Finance website: If a tired Labour government, 12 years in, struggles to develop a credible vision to sell to the voters, the Conservatives seem to have hit on a rich and popular idea that I am sure we will hear more of as the election edges… Continue Reading
Feminism’s calm champion
From time to time in this blog I hope to celebrate some of the most impressive women and men of contemporary politics. Below, a profile of one such woman that appeared in this week’s Guardian. Katherine Rake: Feminism’s calm champion Katherine Rake has led The Fawcett Society, the UK’s leading campaign for human rights, for… Continue Reading
Missing in domestic action (3)
Below, an opening extract from the Guardian news report today, on the Fawcett report, ‘Not Having it All: How Motherhood Reduces Women’s Pay and Employment Prospects’ and the link to the rest of it. ‘Women with children earn about 22% less than their male colleagues, according to a new report that explores the “devastating” impact… Continue Reading
Facing down persecution
There was a powerful moment at the end of a recent vigil held to mark the 64th birthday of Aung San Suu Kyi and to call for an end to her decades long detention. One of the demonstrators pinned a photograph of General Than Shwe, the head of Burma’s ruling military junta, to the doorway… Continue Reading
One of Us: latest
Six months after paperback publication, One of Us continues to remain on both the VIntage and Richard and Judy bookclub bestseller lists. Vintage also continue to recommend the novel as one of its essential fiction reads. BBC Audio books have recently recorded a full, unabridged length CD of the novel – playing time 10 hours… Continue Reading
‘You’re wicked, you’re insane’
Sitting in his warmly furnished living room in Regent’s Park, in central London, Nicholas Mosley evokes an air of elegant bohemianism. A celebrated Booker-nominated novelist, winner of the 1990 Whitbread prize for his richly experimental Hopeful Monsters, he is also a skilled memoirist and has worked as a scriptwriter for the film directors Joseph Losey… Continue Reading
Playing catch up
It might be too early to call, but the rather bold education white paper, published this week, looks like giving Labour a surprise lead in the political battle over public service reform. Only a week ago, the idea of a fresh vision from Labour on any policy area was being belittled by a largely cynical… Continue Reading
The cost of progress in schools
Gordon Brown said earlier this week that parents could expect a private school-style education under plans unveiled in yesterday’s white paper, an extraordinarily bold claim given the current political and economic position. But should Brown’s statement be taken with a pinch of cynicism or just a smidgin of realistic hope? Read the rest of Melissa’s… Continue Reading
Latest writing
THE CRISIS OF THE MERITOCRACY
The crisis of the meritocracy: Britain’s transition to mass education since the Second World War PETER MANDLER, 2020 Oxford: Oxford University Press 361pp, hardback, £25, ISBN 9780198840145 Cambridge historian Peter Mandler has a fundamentally optimistic story to tell about the growth of universal education in Britain over the last seventy years and one can sense… Continue reading…
Latest news & events
A Cold War Tragedy
Melissa will be in conversation with Anne Sebba about her new book, ‘Ethel Rosenberg – A Cold War Tragedy.’ Weds 15th September 2021, 5-6pm, in the Robert Graves Tent at the Wimbledon Book Festival. More information here. Continue reading…
