“... Boston . . . Portland . . . Bangor . . . Meductic . . . Sydney, Nova Scotia . . . St John’s, Newfoundland. Then the trail goes cold: it is said he enlisted in the crew of a Danish fishing boat. It was probably during this journey that Cravan’s last extant literary text was written. A sheaf of what might be called ‘automatic writings’, it ...”

“... an Old Cowhand’, ‘Wagon Wheels’, ‘Rock-a-Bye Your Baby with a Dixie Melody’ and ‘The Surrey with the Fringe on Top’ (from Oklahoma!). At the height of their revolution and powers, these young bebop Modernists were positing a thoroughly American, pan-racial utopia where it’s all music, there’s room for every song and sound. God bless America ...”

“... Kevin Sharpe’s Personal Rule of Charles I, Conrad Russell’s Fall of the British Monarchies and John Morrill’s Nature of the English Revolution all represent distinct standpoints, but certain common features continue to stand out. Rejecting both constitutional explanations of the Caroline crisis, and class interpretations of the Civil War, these histories ...”

“... Pervez Musharraf. The single, strong parent in this case was a desperate State Department – with John Negroponte as the ghoulish go-between and Gordon Brown as the blushing bridesmaid – fearful that if it did not push this through both parties might soon be too old for recycling. The bride was certainly in a hurry, the groom less so. Brokers from both ...”

“... with Cameron’s description of this as a ‘slight fall’. After the letters were published, John McDonnell hailed the prime minister as a convert to the anti-austerity cause. The unedifying spectacle of a prime minister ignorant of the impact of his own government’s policies, or so taken in by his ministers’ rhetoric that he could not reconcile ...”

“... them is Joan Coleman, associate specialist in Psychiatry at Heathlands Mental Health Services in Surrey. She is a founder of RAINS (Ritual Abuse Information Network and Support), which has upwards of 150 members. Writing in last June’s issue of Child Abuse Review, a journal edited from the University of Birmingham’s School of Psychology, she describes ...”

“... and the Redgraves were not merely stationed in Romania, to return at some point to their homes in Surrey or Yorkshire where they might be persuaded to give a talk to the local Rotary Club about their adventures in the edgelands of civilisation; for Elena and Joe, Robin and Micheline, everything they had was in Romania, and everything is always too much to ...”

“... married, my father made two decisions. He decided that he and his family would live in suburban Surrey, and he decided that my mother should leave the stage. I believe it to be clear that both were bad decisions. I have set out the considerations that led my father to choose the suburbs of Surrey, but a more particular ...”

“... are occupied. There’s no sign of the superstore, but the promised food outlets are open: Papa John’s Pizza, Burger King and Greggs. One evening I drove down a dark country lane on the edge of Wyberton to the home of Richard Austin, who led the Bypass Independents to victory in 2007. He’s in his eighties now. His wife, Alison, is also involved in local ...”

“... was Maureen’s first husband, Peter and Jill’s father . . . you do, that’s good. They were Surrey people: they had a grand house in Caterham. Graham was a rich fellow, talented, energetic, generous; he’d made most of his money as a printer: he published the daily stock exchange results. Well, I was invited to Caterham for a weekend. I went down on my ...”

“... I see his loving gaze falling on the objects in it: a conch shell on a side table, a painting by John Piper (a wedding gift). Home is never a neutral place, it is a very specific context, an animated expression of the presence it contains. Why can’t it be loved?‘You can’t love an inanimate object.’ I don’t know where he got the sentence from. My ...”