Pinned
Reposted by Alwyn Turner
"My doctrine is this, that if we see cruelty or wrong that we have the power to stop, and do nothing, we make ourselves sharers in the guilt."
Anna Sewell's only novel, Black Beauty, was published 24 November 1877.
thelionandunicorn.com/2019/02/16/i...
Anna Sewell's only novel, Black Beauty, was published 24 November 1877.
thelionandunicorn.com/2019/02/16/i...
Imperial fiction: Black Beauty
ALWYN TURNER on Anna Sewell’s 1877 novel of good horses and bad masters.
thelionandunicorn.com
November 24, 2025 at 8:46 AM
"My doctrine is this, that if we see cruelty or wrong that we have the power to stop, and do nothing, we make ourselves sharers in the guilt."
Anna Sewell's only novel, Black Beauty, was published 24 November 1877.
thelionandunicorn.com/2019/02/16/i...
Anna Sewell's only novel, Black Beauty, was published 24 November 1877.
thelionandunicorn.com/2019/02/16/i...
Reposted by Alwyn Turner
"Call My Bluff is a model of understated entertainment and - God forbid in the present day - maturity."
Tonight on BBC 4, Call My Bluff at 9 and Face the Music at 9.30. Read about my appreciation of both shows and BBC 4 here in my new article for @lionunicorn.bsky.social :
#BBCFour #television
Tonight on BBC 4, Call My Bluff at 9 and Face the Music at 9.30. Read about my appreciation of both shows and BBC 4 here in my new article for @lionunicorn.bsky.social :
#BBCFour #television
Let us now praise: BBC Four
BEN FINLAY celebrates the BBC that used to be.
thelionandunicorn.com
November 24, 2025 at 8:30 PM
"Call My Bluff is a model of understated entertainment and - God forbid in the present day - maturity."
Tonight on BBC 4, Call My Bluff at 9 and Face the Music at 9.30. Read about my appreciation of both shows and BBC 4 here in my new article for @lionunicorn.bsky.social :
#BBCFour #television
Tonight on BBC 4, Call My Bluff at 9 and Face the Music at 9.30. Read about my appreciation of both shows and BBC 4 here in my new article for @lionunicorn.bsky.social :
#BBCFour #television
Reposted by Alwyn Turner
Harry Pollitt, future leader of the Communist Party, was born 135 years ago today.
Here's the odd story of how he was abducted by fascists in 1925, held overnight and then sent on his way with a cup of tea and some cake.
thelionandunicorn.com/2015/12/16/t...
Here's the odd story of how he was abducted by fascists in 1925, held overnight and then sent on his way with a cup of tea and some cake.
thelionandunicorn.com/2015/12/16/t...
The curious case of the kidnapped communist
ALWYN TURNER explores the curious incident that befell Harry Pollitt in 1925.
thelionandunicorn.com
November 22, 2025 at 8:21 AM
Harry Pollitt, future leader of the Communist Party, was born 135 years ago today.
Here's the odd story of how he was abducted by fascists in 1925, held overnight and then sent on his way with a cup of tea and some cake.
thelionandunicorn.com/2015/12/16/t...
Here's the odd story of how he was abducted by fascists in 1925, held overnight and then sent on his way with a cup of tea and some cake.
thelionandunicorn.com/2015/12/16/t...
Reposted by Alwyn Turner
"Call My Bluff is a model of understated entertainment and - God forbid in the present day - maturity."
@benfinlay74.bsky.social on the delights to be found over on BBC Four.
thelionandunicorn.com/2025/11/22/l...
@benfinlay74.bsky.social on the delights to be found over on BBC Four.
thelionandunicorn.com/2025/11/22/l...
Let us now praise: BBC Four
BEN FINLAY celebrates the BBC that used to be.
thelionandunicorn.com
November 22, 2025 at 8:15 AM
"Call My Bluff is a model of understated entertainment and - God forbid in the present day - maturity."
@benfinlay74.bsky.social on the delights to be found over on BBC Four.
thelionandunicorn.com/2025/11/22/l...
@benfinlay74.bsky.social on the delights to be found over on BBC Four.
thelionandunicorn.com/2025/11/22/l...
Reposted by Alwyn Turner
"Special events in aid of popular left-wing causes were common: a ‘bowl of rice’ dinner saw the likes of R. H. Tawney and Harold Laski showing solidarity with the Chinese peasantry. On other nights, members luxuriated on oysters and other treats."
thelionandunicorn.com/2025/11/19/i...
thelionandunicorn.com/2025/11/19/i...
Isokon: The brave new flats of Hampstead
ALAN TYLER visits the Hampstead home of modernists, artists and spies.
thelionandunicorn.com
November 21, 2025 at 9:00 AM
"Special events in aid of popular left-wing causes were common: a ‘bowl of rice’ dinner saw the likes of R. H. Tawney and Harold Laski showing solidarity with the Chinese peasantry. On other nights, members luxuriated on oysters and other treats."
thelionandunicorn.com/2025/11/19/i...
thelionandunicorn.com/2025/11/19/i...
Reposted by Alwyn Turner
"The real scandal in all of this is that we begged our leaders to lock us up, strip our freedoms and bankrupt our future. And that is why the whole sorry mess has been forgotten."
@finlay24.bsky.social on covid amnesia.
thelionandunicorn.com/2025/10/11/d...
@finlay24.bsky.social on covid amnesia.
thelionandunicorn.com/2025/10/11/d...
Decade: Lockdown (2020)
Do you remember the covid lockdowns? asks FINLAY McLAREN. Of course you do. So why have we chosen to forget?
thelionandunicorn.com
November 21, 2025 at 10:25 AM
"The real scandal in all of this is that we begged our leaders to lock us up, strip our freedoms and bankrupt our future. And that is why the whole sorry mess has been forgotten."
@finlay24.bsky.social on covid amnesia.
thelionandunicorn.com/2025/10/11/d...
@finlay24.bsky.social on covid amnesia.
thelionandunicorn.com/2025/10/11/d...
Reposted by Alwyn Turner
My piece about the Isokon building in Hampstead has found a good home. thelionandunicorn.com/2025/11/19/i...
Isokon: The brave new flats of Hampstead
ALAN TYLER visits the Hampstead home of modernists, artists and spies.
thelionandunicorn.com
November 19, 2025 at 6:28 AM
My piece about the Isokon building in Hampstead has found a good home. thelionandunicorn.com/2025/11/19/i...
Reposted by Alwyn Turner
Coming soon: A Shellshocked Nation - as recommended by @robbiemillen.bsky.social.
November 18, 2025 at 8:49 AM
Coming soon: A Shellshocked Nation - as recommended by @robbiemillen.bsky.social.
Coming soon: A Shellshocked Nation - as recommended by @robbiemillen.bsky.social.
November 18, 2025 at 8:49 AM
Coming soon: A Shellshocked Nation - as recommended by @robbiemillen.bsky.social.
Reposted by Alwyn Turner
"It would be easy to hate Audrey or Richard; to have some modern authorial self-insert wander in & tell them off for their privilege. But we don’t. We’re invited to laugh at their ridiculousness without malice"
@finlay24.bsky.social on how comedy loves vanity👇
thelionandunicorn.com/2025/11/16/l...
@finlay24.bsky.social on how comedy loves vanity👇
thelionandunicorn.com/2025/11/16/l...
Last Night on iPlayer: To The Manor Born
In our series on individual episodes of British television, FINLAY McLAREN brings a touch of class.
thelionandunicorn.com
November 17, 2025 at 10:51 AM
"It would be easy to hate Audrey or Richard; to have some modern authorial self-insert wander in & tell them off for their privilege. But we don’t. We’re invited to laugh at their ridiculousness without malice"
@finlay24.bsky.social on how comedy loves vanity👇
thelionandunicorn.com/2025/11/16/l...
@finlay24.bsky.social on how comedy loves vanity👇
thelionandunicorn.com/2025/11/16/l...
Reposted by Alwyn Turner
Coming soon on @lionunicorn.bsky.social , yours truly on the quiet treasure trove that is BBC4....
#bbc #writingcommunity #drama #documentary #film #history #art
#bbc #writingcommunity #drama #documentary #film #history #art
November 13, 2025 at 8:04 PM
Coming soon on @lionunicorn.bsky.social , yours truly on the quiet treasure trove that is BBC4....
#bbc #writingcommunity #drama #documentary #film #history #art
#bbc #writingcommunity #drama #documentary #film #history #art
Reposted by Alwyn Turner
"Across three series, they spar, flirt and circle one another with the usual passive aggression of the English upper classes in mating season, until, inevitably, they marry"
Our @finlay24.bsky.social on why it's modern comedy that's guilty of airs and graces👇
thelionandunicorn.com/2025/11/16/l...
Our @finlay24.bsky.social on why it's modern comedy that's guilty of airs and graces👇
thelionandunicorn.com/2025/11/16/l...
Last Night on YouTube: To The Manor Born
In our series on individual episodes of British television, FINLAY McLAREN brings a touch of class.
thelionandunicorn.com
November 16, 2025 at 12:59 PM
"Across three series, they spar, flirt and circle one another with the usual passive aggression of the English upper classes in mating season, until, inevitably, they marry"
Our @finlay24.bsky.social on why it's modern comedy that's guilty of airs and graces👇
thelionandunicorn.com/2025/11/16/l...
Our @finlay24.bsky.social on why it's modern comedy that's guilty of airs and graces👇
thelionandunicorn.com/2025/11/16/l...
Reposted by Alwyn Turner
"We laugh at them, and with them, and, crucially, we love them. The way you’re supposed to with sitcom characters."
@finlay24.bsky.social on "To the Manor Born".
thelionandunicorn.com/2025/11/16/l...
@finlay24.bsky.social on "To the Manor Born".
thelionandunicorn.com/2025/11/16/l...
Last Night on YouTube: To The Manor Born
In our series on individual episodes of British television, FINLAY McLAREN brings a touch of class.
thelionandunicorn.com
November 16, 2025 at 8:49 AM
"We laugh at them, and with them, and, crucially, we love them. The way you’re supposed to with sitcom characters."
@finlay24.bsky.social on "To the Manor Born".
thelionandunicorn.com/2025/11/16/l...
@finlay24.bsky.social on "To the Manor Born".
thelionandunicorn.com/2025/11/16/l...
Reposted by Alwyn Turner
"To tell you the truth, it’s all about the hype..."
Les McKeown of the Bay City Rollers was born 70 years ago today.
thelionandunicorn.com/2021/04/22/l...
Les McKeown of the Bay City Rollers was born 70 years ago today.
thelionandunicorn.com/2021/04/22/l...
Les McKeown: ‘A cheeky little upstart’
The late Bay City Rollers singer in his own words, as recorded by ALWYN TURNER.
thelionandunicorn.com
November 12, 2025 at 8:27 AM
"To tell you the truth, it’s all about the hype..."
Les McKeown of the Bay City Rollers was born 70 years ago today.
thelionandunicorn.com/2021/04/22/l...
Les McKeown of the Bay City Rollers was born 70 years ago today.
thelionandunicorn.com/2021/04/22/l...
Reposted by Alwyn Turner
"Labour history is full of missed opportunities and great leader-that-never-were. But 1980 was the most catastrophic mistake of them all."
Michael Foot became leader of the Labour Party 45 years ago today.
thelionandunicorn.com/2016/08/06/l...
Michael Foot became leader of the Labour Party 45 years ago today.
thelionandunicorn.com/2016/08/06/l...
Labour leadership elections: Part 2
Continuing ALWYN TURNER’s history of the post-war Labour Party, seen through leadership elections past (1976-88).
thelionandunicorn.com
November 10, 2025 at 8:42 AM
"Labour history is full of missed opportunities and great leader-that-never-were. But 1980 was the most catastrophic mistake of them all."
Michael Foot became leader of the Labour Party 45 years ago today.
thelionandunicorn.com/2016/08/06/l...
Michael Foot became leader of the Labour Party 45 years ago today.
thelionandunicorn.com/2016/08/06/l...
Reposted by Alwyn Turner
On the centenary of his birth, here's Richard Burton in an early movie role as an IRA man, jailed for bombing offences, who harbours a discreet liking for his fellow men...
thelionandunicorn.com/2023/05/24/f...
thelionandunicorn.com/2023/05/24/f...
Final Cut: Now Barabbas Was a Robber (1949)
SIMON MATTHEWS on an anti-death-penalty movie written by the brother of a prime minister.
thelionandunicorn.com
November 10, 2025 at 8:49 AM
On the centenary of his birth, here's Richard Burton in an early movie role as an IRA man, jailed for bombing offences, who harbours a discreet liking for his fellow men...
thelionandunicorn.com/2023/05/24/f...
thelionandunicorn.com/2023/05/24/f...
Reposted by Alwyn Turner
"Blue Peter had invited viewers to name a new cat, and then ignored the people’s choice (either Cookie or Pussy, depending on whether one believed the BBC or the Sun), deciding instead to call it Socks"
@alwynturner.bsky.social on Auntie's bloopers👇
thelionandunicorn.wordpress.com/2021/05/21/w...
@alwynturner.bsky.social on Auntie's bloopers👇
thelionandunicorn.wordpress.com/2021/05/21/w...
‘What is the BBC for?’
Sachsgate, Kittengate, the Queen ‘losing it’ – the BBC had a difficult few years, reflects ALWYN TURNER.
thelionandunicorn.wordpress.com
November 10, 2025 at 1:59 PM
"Blue Peter had invited viewers to name a new cat, and then ignored the people’s choice (either Cookie or Pussy, depending on whether one believed the BBC or the Sun), deciding instead to call it Socks"
@alwynturner.bsky.social on Auntie's bloopers👇
thelionandunicorn.wordpress.com/2021/05/21/w...
@alwynturner.bsky.social on Auntie's bloopers👇
thelionandunicorn.wordpress.com/2021/05/21/w...
Reposted by Alwyn Turner
"If every ex-soldier would tell his own children the truth, the whole truth, about war, the war-spirit would be stamped out for ever"
— Ernest Mander, general secretary NUX
@alwynturner.bsky.social on radicalism and remembrance after the Great War👇
thelionandunicorn.wordpress.com/2015/11/08/t...
— Ernest Mander, general secretary NUX
@alwynturner.bsky.social on radicalism and remembrance after the Great War👇
thelionandunicorn.wordpress.com/2015/11/08/t...
‘The most degrading and bestial business in the world’
Remembrance hasn’t always been a pageant of national unity. ALWYN TURNER reveals how the British state once feared its veterans.
thelionandunicorn.wordpress.com
November 9, 2025 at 11:48 AM
"If every ex-soldier would tell his own children the truth, the whole truth, about war, the war-spirit would be stamped out for ever"
— Ernest Mander, general secretary NUX
@alwynturner.bsky.social on radicalism and remembrance after the Great War👇
thelionandunicorn.wordpress.com/2015/11/08/t...
— Ernest Mander, general secretary NUX
@alwynturner.bsky.social on radicalism and remembrance after the Great War👇
thelionandunicorn.wordpress.com/2015/11/08/t...
Reposted by Alwyn Turner
"Clumps of crimson poppies, thrusting out from the lips of craters, straggling in drifts between the hummocks, undaunted by the desolation, heedless of human fury and stupidity..."
thelionandunicorn.com/2016/11/07/a...
thelionandunicorn.com/2016/11/07/a...
‘A wreath of poppies’
ALWYN TURNER on the early days of the British Legion’s Poppy.
thelionandunicorn.com
November 9, 2025 at 9:54 AM
"Clumps of crimson poppies, thrusting out from the lips of craters, straggling in drifts between the hummocks, undaunted by the desolation, heedless of human fury and stupidity..."
thelionandunicorn.com/2016/11/07/a...
thelionandunicorn.com/2016/11/07/a...
Reposted by Alwyn Turner
"We are going back to the origin of superstition – to an age when dragons tore each other in their slime."
On the anniversary of Bram Stoker's birth in 1847, we remember his second-best novel.
thelionandunicorn.com/2020/10/24/i...
On the anniversary of Bram Stoker's birth in 1847, we remember his second-best novel.
thelionandunicorn.com/2020/10/24/i...
Imperial fiction: The Lair of the White Worm
ALWYN TURNER reads Bram Stoker’s second-best-known novel – and finds there’s a steep fall-off after #1.
thelionandunicorn.com
November 8, 2025 at 8:34 AM
"We are going back to the origin of superstition – to an age when dragons tore each other in their slime."
On the anniversary of Bram Stoker's birth in 1847, we remember his second-best novel.
thelionandunicorn.com/2020/10/24/i...
On the anniversary of Bram Stoker's birth in 1847, we remember his second-best novel.
thelionandunicorn.com/2020/10/24/i...
Reposted by Alwyn Turner
"Goldsmith stared unblinking into the camera through his five-minute address, his intense demeanour and ominous message in no way resembling a Bond villain explaining an apocalyptic plan to a terrified world."
thelionandunicorn.com/2025/11/07/r...
thelionandunicorn.com/2025/11/07/r...
Remembering the Referendum Party
The most important article on James Goldsmith’s Referendum Party you will ever read – by PAUL SAFFER.
thelionandunicorn.com
November 7, 2025 at 7:54 AM
"Goldsmith stared unblinking into the camera through his five-minute address, his intense demeanour and ominous message in no way resembling a Bond villain explaining an apocalyptic plan to a terrified world."
thelionandunicorn.com/2025/11/07/r...
thelionandunicorn.com/2025/11/07/r...
This time next week, I'll be speaking at the King's Gallery, Buckingham Palace.
I'd love to see you there.
www.rct.uk/event/alwyn-...
I'd love to see you there.
www.rct.uk/event/alwyn-...
Alwyn Turner on Edwardian England
Join Alwyn Turner, author of Little Englanders, in conversation with Alice de Quidt, Assistant Curator of Prints and Drawings at Royal Collection Trust.
www.rct.uk
November 6, 2025 at 7:15 PM
This time next week, I'll be speaking at the King's Gallery, Buckingham Palace.
I'd love to see you there.
www.rct.uk/event/alwyn-...
I'd love to see you there.
www.rct.uk/event/alwyn-...
Reposted by Alwyn Turner
"‘Do you think that this Free Trade stuff is lunacy or criminal?’ enquired Captain de Wilton-ffallow.
‘Definitely criminal,’ replied his senior officer. ‘They’re all in the pay of Moscow.’"
Satirical novelist A.G. Macdonell was born 130 years ago today.
thelionandunicorn.com/2016/09/10/a...
‘Definitely criminal,’ replied his senior officer. ‘They’re all in the pay of Moscow.’"
Satirical novelist A.G. Macdonell was born 130 years ago today.
thelionandunicorn.com/2016/09/10/a...
All cricket on the Western Front
ALWYN TURNER celebrates the work of novelist and failed Liberal candidate AG Macdonell.
thelionandunicorn.com
November 3, 2025 at 8:43 AM
"‘Do you think that this Free Trade stuff is lunacy or criminal?’ enquired Captain de Wilton-ffallow.
‘Definitely criminal,’ replied his senior officer. ‘They’re all in the pay of Moscow.’"
Satirical novelist A.G. Macdonell was born 130 years ago today.
thelionandunicorn.com/2016/09/10/a...
‘Definitely criminal,’ replied his senior officer. ‘They’re all in the pay of Moscow.’"
Satirical novelist A.G. Macdonell was born 130 years ago today.
thelionandunicorn.com/2016/09/10/a...
Reposted by Alwyn Turner
very few books that are billed as "hilarious" or, worse, "laugh-out-loud funny" actually are. Even some of the greatest comic novels will do well raise a wry smile. This is one of the few that actually made me howl
"Howard Kirk is in many ways an opportunist, a reader of intellectual fashions and trends. He portrays himself as radical, but at heart he is still a career and company man."
Malcolm Bradbury's greatest novel The History Man was published 50 years ago today.
thelionandunicorn.com/2025/09/27/t...
Malcolm Bradbury's greatest novel The History Man was published 50 years ago today.
thelionandunicorn.com/2025/09/27/t...
The (rest is) History, Man
BEN FINLAY celebrates 50 years of Malcom Bradbury’s satire of fashionable left politics.
thelionandunicorn.com
November 3, 2025 at 8:57 AM
very few books that are billed as "hilarious" or, worse, "laugh-out-loud funny" actually are. Even some of the greatest comic novels will do well raise a wry smile. This is one of the few that actually made me howl
Reposted by Alwyn Turner
Even when you catch him unawares in his hotel, he’s maintaining his wardrobe.
November 1, 2025 at 6:53 PM
Even when you catch him unawares in his hotel, he’s maintaining his wardrobe.