Railways of Ayrshire
Book
In the early 1800s, Ayrshire was already established as a prosperous, mainly rural agricultural...
David McK (3425 KP) rated Moving Pictures in Books
Jul 11, 2021
I hadn't realised that this book had the first appearance(s) of Ponder Stibbons, Arch-Chancellor Mustrum Ridcully alongside that of Gaspode the Wonder Dog! (well, maybe I knew the latter)
<original review>
Book #10 in Terry Pratchett's Discworld series, which (for my money) stands alongside Soul Music as one of his best works, perhaps because these are the two books it is easiest to catch the many allusions in!
This is the one where Discworld discovers the magic of the Motion Picture, culminating in a not-quite-right scene of a giant lady carrying a screaming ape up a tall building (Ankh-Morpork's Tower of Art in the Unseen University), and is also, perhaps, the only book where CMOT Dibbler is actually a major character rather than an extra.
Inglorious Empire: What the British Did to India
Book
In the eighteenth century, India's share of the world economy was as large as Europe's. By 1947,...
Fishing in Hartlepool
Book
Hartlepool's links with the sea go back into the mists of time; for centuries fishermen used the...
Architectural Details: A Visual Guide to 2000 Years of Building Styles
Book
Do you know a Doric column when you see one? Of course. But what about an entablature, a hypostyle,...
A Brief History of Britain: v. 4: Nation Transformed: 1851-2010
Book
From the Great Exhibition to the Credit Crunch - the transformation of Britain from the world's...
Centuries of Change: Which Century Saw the Most Change and Why it Matters to Us
Book
History's greatest tour guide is back. And he's ringing the changes. In a contest of change, which...
David McK (3425 KP) rated Raising Steam: (Discworld Novel 40) in Books
Jan 28, 2019
This one is to do with the introduction of the railway to the Discworld, and also offers many a reference to previous characters and situations in the series as a whole: indeed, at times, it almost feels as if Pratchett is trying to squeeze as many in as possible.
Unfortunately, it's also not his best: I have to admit, in general, I've found most of his Industrial Revolution novels to not be as good as, say, those based around either The City Watch or those based around The Witches. Like the locomotive on which it is based, I found this one to take a fair bit of time to gather steam, and to feel a wee bit ponderous and unwieldy - this, I have to say, is not a novel I would use to introduce somebody new to the delights of the Discworld. :-(
Children of the Mill: True Stories from Quarry Bank
Book
Channel 4's The Mill captivated viewers with the tales of the lives of the young girls and boys in a...