“We then come to what is, for me, the most astonishing passage in the whole book. Harry says he has no problem with the concept of monarchy, despite his treatment, despite the ill-gotten…

“The tragedy of Harry, Diana, Charles Windsor, and Camilla Parker-Bowles points up the pernicious effects on people’s lives of the institution of monarchy. Edward VIII could not marry a divorcée and remain king.…

“Sikinos, 41 square kilometres, with a permanent population of around 330, is the least developed of the larger Cycladic islands. This may be due to the fact that it didn’t have a ferry…

  “Unpacking, I realized with growing horror that my wallet had been stolen: a sickening and scary feeling of bereavement. After twice hunting through my rucksack and recognizing the inevitable, I phoned to…

“Prospective visitors wanting a tantalizing preview of Anafi—without braving the 16-hour ferry journey from Piraeus—will find it without leaving Athens. On the steep northern slopes of the capital’s Acropolis is the tiny urban…

“People say, what does it matter? It’s harmless. The Queen is only a figurehead. It brings in the tourists. But she is more than a figurehead. Every piece of potential legislation that may…

“I never erase the writings of previous owners of my second-hand books: some of them are fascinating. And I always Google the names, to see if I have inherited a book from someone…

“We first find Skinner in March 1867 aboard the blockade-running, custom-built steamship the Arkadi, capable of 15 knots, faster than any ship the Turks had, en route from the island of Syros. With him are Colonel…

“Pelham Grenville ‘P.G.’ Wodehouse, KBE (15 October 1881–14 February 1975) was the greatest writer of English of the 20th century. The snootier critics don’t agree. He is rarely bracketed with Evelyn Waugh, George…

“People say, what does it matter? It’s harmless. The Queen is only a figurehead. It brings in the tourists. But she is more than a figurehead. Every piece of potential legislation that may…