“... and an ambiguous, place,’ Ackroyd says. ‘Where does the river end and the sea begin?’ Crow Stone on the Essex shore and London Stone in Kent, an imaginary line joins them: this is all the information Ackroyd has to offer. How he reached the stone on his own expedition, and how he felt after so many miles, is not revealed. The Isle of Grain is ...”

“... hills and sky and dark water and listen to the silence. There was a faint dusting of snow. As the crow flies, Glasgow isn’t that far away – neither is Belfast – but hills and sea and sea lochs intrude. Occasionally closed by landslides, the road to Campbeltown, at the southern end of the Kintyre peninsula in Argyll, is a huge dog-leg, north up Loch ...”

“... wouldn’t be happy if I were occupied either.’ * I heard Tony Blair say: ‘Before people crow about the absence of weapons of mass destruction, I suggest they wait a bit.’ I heard General Myers say: ‘Given time, given the number of prisoners now that we’re interrogating, I’m confident that we’re going to find weapons of mass ...”