John Mortimer sits ensconced at his writing desk in his study, a folder of typed sheets lying open in front, the walls lined with books and pictures, a clutter of pens and dusty knick knacks on the desk. And some plastic figurines. “Oh that’s Shakespeare and Freud, and lots of Jesuses. I’ve got a bouncy… read more +

Barely a few pages into Bay of Tigers, Pedro Rosa Mendes’ chronicle of travels in Angola in 1997, we learn “there are more than one hundred million mines buried in seventy countries, close to a tenth of them in Angola”. It is a depressing start, but in ways that may not be immediately apparent. Mendes… read more +