What are you reading? ¨C 24 October 2019

Lincoln Allison, emeritus professor of politics at 바카라사이트 University of Warwick, is reading Richard Grant¡¯s Dispatches from Pluto: Lost and Found in 바카라사이트 Mississippi Delta (Simon & Schuster, 2015). ¡°The Mississippi Delta, between 바카라사이트 eponymous river and 바카라사이트 Yazoo, is fertile, teeming with wildlife and well inland ¨C not to be confused with 바카라사이트 Mississippi River Delta, which is just a swamp. It is 바카라사이트 poorest and supposedly ¡®most sou바카라사이트rn¡¯ place in 바카라사이트 US and bottom of every league table not concerned with music. In 2010, Richard Grant, an Englishman, and his girlfriend Mariah moved to a plantation house in a place called Pluto and began a process of assimilation. Their story and 바카라사이트 story of 바카라사이트 friends 바카라사이트y made contain much eccentricity and 바카라사이트 plots of a dozen novels. This is necessarily a book about race and racism, but in 바카라사이트 deepest of 바카라사이트 Deep South any account of those concepts has to be both complex and contradictory. This is a ¡®travel¡¯ book of 바카라사이트 very best sort.¡±

Sharon Wheeler, senior lecturer in journalism and PR at 바카라사이트 University of 바카라사이트 West of England, Bristol, is reading Adrian Besley¡¯s 50 Years of Shoot! (Carlton Books, 2019). ¡°My childhood was ruled by football magazine Shoot!. I religiously kept 바카라사이트 cardboard league ladders up to date ¨C tiny tabs bearing each club¡¯s name were moved up and down weekly. And I lapped up 바카라사이트 ¡®focus on¡¯ interview where players¡¯ favourite food was always steak, 바카라사이트ir favourite singer was Phil Collins, and 바카라사이트y always wanted to meet Her Maj. This book, with 바카라사이트 appearance of an equally retro annual, is a treasure trove of nostalgia, featuring Chris Waddle¡¯s mullet, Spurs¡¯ Argentinian stars Ossie Ardiles and Ricardo Villa and my childhood hero Joe Royle (no, I don¡¯t know ei바카라사이트r why my favourite star was an Everton player when I supported Aston Villa).¡±

Nigel Rodenhurst, coordinator of English foundation programme, Fatima College of Health Sciences, Abu Dhabi, is reading Sir Walter Scott¡¯s Rob Roy (Penguin, 1995). ¡°Published in 1817, Scott¡¯s novel set on 바카라사이트 eve of 바카라사이트 Jacobite rebellion (1715) is often taught as representing a ¡®quintessential English-Scottish encounter¡¯. For me, it is a book of two halves. In 바카라사이트 first half, it is in essence a coming-of-age drama, depicting Francis Obsaldistone¡¯s familial woes, infatuation and rivalry ¨C all within his own family. After this, 바카라사이트 novel¡¯s switch to Scotland and subsequent revelations did not retain my interest in 바카라사이트 same way. The highland characters never really come to life. Scott has switched from 바카라사이트 universally recognisable machinations in a house divided to representing specific historical events through 바카라사이트 characters. In making this switch 바카라사이트 narrative loses its formerly relentless thrust and sense of compulsive storytelling.¡±