Why does fiction matter? Because stories can sharpen the way we understand other people. A meta-analysis found that reading fiction has a small but positive effect on social cognition. Including our ability to interpret emotions, motives, and inner lives. ⏰📚💙📚🎧 #books #reading #fiction

Me on The Shortest History of Ireland, by James Hawes- Book Review aidanjmcquade.com/2026/04/20/t...

Light of Tuscany (and Romagna): some photographs aidanjmcquade.com/2026/04/20/l...

Rothko inspired aidanjmcquade.com/2026/04/19/r...

It's in my collection Shadow Cast by Mountains, which is still available, for example here (with a kind review by the Irish author Aidan J. McQuade): www.amazon.de/-/en/Shadow-...

A friend wrote to me this week to say he sees me in a "prophetical light". He was talking about a poem I wrote in 2016, about the Putin-Trump post-Brexit world. To quote Wilfred Owen, "All a poet can do today is warn." I think it's the only poem by me that rhymes, btw.

Aidan's on here as @themcquade.bsky.social and you can check out his fine work here: www.amazon.de/stores/Aidan...

1. Terrorism: violence committed by the enemy against civilians. 2. Self-defence: violence committed by ourselves against civilians. 21st Century Candidates for Ambrose Bierce's Devil's Dictionary aidanjmcquade.com/2026/03/12/2...

21st Century Candidates for Ambrose Bierce's Devil's Dictionary aidanjmcquade.com/2026/03/12/2...

Given it’s that time of year, re-upping this one: Reflections on St Patrick #SaintPatrick #PaddysDay aidanjmcquade.com/2017/03/17/r...

The careless application of high explosives: reflections in the shadow of the unlawful US-Israel assault on Iran aidanjmcquade.com/2026/03/01/t...

My review of Ferdia Lennon's wonderful novel of one of the bleakest moments of the Peloponnesian War, Glorious Exploits. aidanjmcquade.com/2026/02/24/g...

Vietnam, (mostly) street photography aidanjmcquade.com/2026/01/26/v...

Vietnam, (mostly) street photography aidanjmcquade.com/2026/01/26/v...

I saw the crescent …

Video review of The Flashman Papers, by George McDonald Fraser www.instagram.com/reel/DSPG7eo...

On this day 100 years ago the Irish Free State government sold out the North by signing a deal fixing the British border in Ireland. My novel Some Service to the State is set in the months before that betrayal and deals with some of the consequences of Partition for all Ireland

On this day 100 years ago the Irish Free State government sold out the North by signing a deal fixing the British border in Ireland. My novel Some Service to the State is set in the months before that betrayal and deals with some of the consequences of Partition for all Ireland

From the country that brought you #Brexit… #DieHardIsAChristmasMovie #EnglandIsAVerySillyCountry

Starmer’s anti-asylum policies show how utterly clueless he is about the right-wing media’s role in politics. He’s trying to fix a “problem” contrived by Farage, GB News and The Telegraph. He’ll never win, because ultimately he’s fighting a ghost – he’s fighting something that doesn’t really exist

Funny cos it’s true #Israel

Winter is coming … so here’s some flowers to brighten up your darker days aidanjmcquade.com/2025/10/18/w...

Winter is coming … so here’s some flowers to brighten up your darker days aidanjmcquade.com/2025/10/18/w...

There are two sorts of people who want to tamper with the European Convention on Human Rights #ECHR 1. Those who don't understand the causes of WW2; 2. Those whose side lost in WW2

We flounced out of the EU on the say-so of politicians who lied to us. And what a total shitshow that’s turned out to be. The polar opposite of what they promised. Now the call to flounce out of the ECHR. By the same people. Telling the same lies. Has the country been kicked in the head by a horse?

The Undiscovered Country

The UN should counter-sue him for breaking the escalator: www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

What a lovely review 😻 “By refusing to flinch from grotesque realities, the Secret Barrister has produced a novel several cuts above much contemporary English crime fiction, and one that, like the best of literature, illuminates the human condition while laying bare the failings of our world.”

I loved as a kid telling other kids that the bands they’d just learnt about, I’d known for ages! Later I learnt that vital for building successful movements is to not lambast late-comers but rather welcome newcomers. The goal is the winning many, not the longest-involved few.

The UK government’s shenanigans around Palestine Action undermines fundamental principles of rule of law aidanjmcquade.com/2025/09/07/a...

Protest being beaten down by Starmer...

The inept pigheaded government forced a single vote on 3 separate organisations. They blocked the option of 3 separate votes. Some MPs (eg SNP) abstained on the vote (on all 3) as a result.

The UK government’s shenanigans around Palestine Action undermines fundamental principles of rule of law aidanjmcquade.com/2025/09/07/a...

Arbitrary Power and the Rule of Law: The UK’s Criminalisation of Protest aidanjmcquade.com/2025/09/07/a...

Keeping the conscience of a nation, Parliament Square, London, 6 Sept 2025 aidanjmcquade.com/2025/09/06/p...

I’m a scientist & historian, & over a decade ago I warned about the far right & their ‘free speech’ rhetoric - that it was an excuse for punching down & ‘saying the unsayable’, but that only they would be allowed such ‘freedom’. The two UK far right parties [Tory & Reform] are openly doing it now:

Says a government who arrested hundreds of pensioners for holding sign opposing genocide. We are being run by fucking morons. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

My short video review of Wendy Erskine’s first novel, The Benefactors www.instagram.com/reel/DOD5aXf...

Aggravated sycophancy has its rewards: www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

There are two sorts of people who want to tamper with the European Convention on Human Rights #ECHR 1. Those who don't understand the causes of WW2; 2. Those whose side lost in WW2

A flicker of gulls: images obtained at great personal risk while eating chips in Folkestone aidanjmcquade.com/2025/08/24/a...

From Siege to Safety: A Sudanese Family's Journey aidanjmcquade.com/2025/08/28/f...

From Siege to Safety: A Sudanese Family's Journey aidanjmcquade.com/2025/08/28/f...

New #historicalmystery coming out tomorrow!

Israel says there’s loads of food in #Gaza

A flicker of gulls: images obtained at great personal risk while eating chips in Folkestone aidanjmcquade.com/2025/08/24/a...

C’est Paris! Putting the “la” in “Ooh la”… aidanjmcquade.com/2025/08/19/c...

C’est Paris! Putting the “la” in “Ooh la”… aidanjmcquade.com/2025/08/19/c...

International law was a nice idea while it lasted. It may re-emerge after the next world war. If we make it that far.