Well this was terrific. The Boundless Sea by David Abulafia, beautifully read by Jonathan Keeble. The global story of how sea-borne trade has shaped history. Very engaging and learned, and very funny in parts #booksky

This tweet has been doing the rounds on Twitter now that Nathan Gill has pleaded guilty. If only someone had tried to investigate UKIP & Russian interference 🧐 There’s another timeline where the Guardian supported me, doubled down on the investigation & I look 5 years younger ..

The Nobel Prize committee is ANTIFA!

“She is receiving the Nobel Peace Prize for her tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela and for her struggle to achieve a just & peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy.” The Nobel Committee underscores exactly why an aspiring dictator like Trump cannot win.

This is a lie. There are many criticisms you might sensibly and truthfully make of the Sentencing Council and the Sentencing Guidelines. I’ve been making them for years. But this is an outright lie. Pure fabrication. A fraud on the public.

To be absolutely clear: Tylenol does not cause autism.

Where the separate divisions of ANTIFA landed on the beaches of Normandy on June 6, 1944:

Appalled by the violent scenes of police being attacked at the Tommy Robinson rally today. Those responsible should face the full force of the law. These far right thugs do not speak for Britain.

Starmer, for the love of God, grow a spine.

This must be a watershed moment. The government's continued use of X is no longer simply negligent. It is an act of conscious assistance to violent extremism.

Huge thanks to the 5,000 patriots standing up for our nation, its beautifully diverse citizenship and British values of respect, compassion and fairness — against the racist traitors who would tear us apart

Upon occasion I daydream about writing a novel but then recall my lack of ability, initiative, dedication and time. If you are in the market for handy hints and tips, or if you just want to be a better reader, I found this a useful guide. Monkeys with Typewriters by Scarlett Thomas #booksky

Be kind to everyone you meet, for they are fighting a hard battle. Except this dog. This dog is not fighting a hard battle. This dog is relaxing its ass off. #blueskydogs

This was an enjoyable and sometimes eye-opening read. Paradise of Cities by John Julius Norwich, written with learning and wit, depicting the lives of artists who, in the 19th Century, made Venice their home. The chapter on “Baron Corvo” is an eye-opener. #booksky

Time to go book-fishing #booksky

On the same day in the Telegraph:

Thoroughly enjoyed Restless by William Boyd, an espionage thriller about the activities of the British Security Co-ordination office in New York in the 1940s, which deployed means fair and devious to coax the USA to join WWII. A real page-turner. Robert Harris meets le Carré. #booksky

Let me find the world’s tiniest violin… Time to end this elite Victorian indulgence and chart a more vibrant, nature-rich future for Britain’s uplands

I’d give it ten minutes if I were you.

Very much enjoyed this, a romp through the history of mathematics and how it underpins the modern world. Quite a few equations but don’t let that put you off. Michael Brooks: The Art Of More.

Enjoyed The Cautious Traveller’s Guide to the Wasteland by Sarah Brooks. The tale of an armoured train traversing an increasingly bewildering landscape. Agatha Christie meets Jeff VanderMeer, with a whiff of Lovecraft. #booksky

The tariff is the deal is the tariff. Got that?

Pint? #pint

Train cancelled because people want to catch it. Thats a new one.

I hope US folks on the No Kings rallies know how much people outside the US are heartened to see them. We always knew the US is full of very fine people who totally reject and revile what's happening, but my god it's good to see it.

I mostly enjoyed A City On Mars by Kelly and Zach Weinersmith. Perhaps the nerd humour started to drag a little but the arguments were sound. A bracing antidote to the shallow, boosterish techno-optimism of the fascist-adjacent billionaire-bro space groupies.

This was a terrific read, about a particularly rambunctious period of English history, when we could have gone in any direction, politically-speaking, from absolute monarchy to proto-communism and anything in between. 💙📚 #booksky

💙📚 An enjoyable read about one of humanity’s favourite things: borders. The world would probably be a better place if the British had been forbidden rulers. #booksky

Just staring at me through the office window. I’m sure it’s fine. #birds

Do you know your swift from your Swallow? Watch my animated episode all about how to tell them apart here youtu.be/7u4pH-kpagA?...

The UK has got to be the only country in the world that is politically held hostage by like 15 newspaper columnists that basically nobody reads

A vote for Farage is a vote for chlorinated chicken. bsky.app/profile/theg...

Eye-opening graph. The biggest wildfire incidents in the UK don't occur when it's hottest, in high summer: they take place in April - *when landowners set fire to their grouse moors & lose control of burns.* Time to ban moorland burning. Source: www.iucn-uk-peatlandprogramme.org/sites/defaul...

L - The official photo from the Kremlin of US Special Envoy @SteveWitkoff putting his hand over his heart as he greets his friend Vladimir Putin again this week. R - Putin’s latest missile attack killing at least 21 people, including 7 children, on Palm Sunday. Putin’s stooge.

The stupidity in Trump’s new tariffs is apparently limitless. He has introduced a 10% tariff on the British Indian Ocean Territory. The only inhabited island there is Diego Garcia, home to US service personnel. TRUMP HAS PUT A TARIFF ON A US MILITARY BASE 🤡

America preparing to impose tariffs

Witkoff and Carlson talk about Europe exactly as Russian television propagandists do. Must dismiss the rich functional democracies where people lead long happy lives so that our own citizens settle for tawdry and impoverishing fascist oligarchy.

That’s no way to win a race.

When they say peace, they mean surrender.

1066 has a lot to answer for. Infuriating, informative and inspiring, Guy Shrubsole’s book about land ownership in the UK skewers the pretensions of the self-declared stewards of the countryside and charts a path for us plebs to take back control. #booksky

Daily reminder that a vote for Farage is a vote for Trump, Putin & Musk bsky.app/profile/poli...

“And I’ll have that done — I’ll have that done in 24 hours.” 30+ days in: - No deal signed - Ukrainians leaving White House in a rage - The Kremlin jerking off into the Gulf of America Excellent work Mr. President 🫡

The most shameful day for the United States of America in any of our lifetimes.

This is a President who skipped a World War One commemoration because it was raining talking to one who has stood in front of a fresh mass grave of his own people.

Remember: a vote for Nigel Farage is a vote for Donald Trump, who has just humiliated the true leader of the free world, President Zelensky

“Do yourself a favour Be a liquor saver Liquor save! Liquor save at Kwik-Save!” #Starmer

Arthur C. Clarke thought that one day we’d have genetically-engineered mini-elephants to do chores around the house and I’m still waiting.

So, basically, the USA is Saruman?

The US just voted alongside Russia, Belarus and North Korea against a UN resolution to support Ukraine. This is a wake-up call for all those cheerleading Trump in our country.

The End of The World? LOL, that couldn’t happen! This was good. Everything Must Go by the excellent Dorian Lynskey. A tour of some of the different ways that different times have imagined the end of the world. Pertinent. #booksky.