“... Cat and an Owl, were all his worldly Goods.’ Mr Pilkington’s resemblance to the Yonghy-Bonghy-Bo was not enough to render him amiable. After a promising beginning their marriage disintegrated. According to Mrs Pilkington, when her husband was fortunate enough to be made chaplain to Alderman Barber, he went to London, abandoning Laetitia, and lived openly ...”

“... whose parents were born in Bangladesh. ‘No matter how many times you give them information, or mark their card, they still contaminate the bloody recycling bins. They hide all sorts of stuff at the bottom of the organic bins – like machine parts. There’s no telling them.’ He showed me one of the bins outside a large house; it had grass on the top and ...”

“... of cadres – Lin Biao, Peng Dehuai, Liu Shaoqi, Deng Xiaoping, Chen Yun, Li Xiannian, Chen Yi, Bo Yibo, Peng Zhen, Yang Shangkun and others – showed their mettle in the civil war, and some of whom saw the country through to its recovery in the Reform Era. Zhou needs to be seen as a member of this company. In Chen’s story they figure as extras more than ...”