The Diary Review

Half a century ago today, Cyclone Tracy devastated the Australian town of Darwin, destroying 80% of houses, making 41,000 out of the 47,000...

Dannie Abse, the Welsh doctor, poet and occasional diarist, died ten years ago today, just two days before I got married (though I’d known m...

‘I decided that the Brussels years were likely to be a sharply isolated segment of my life, and that I might mark them by attempting this ne...

I have never had a very close relationship with the Queen, who died yesterday, so no mourning for me. But I’m not a republican. I feel I’ve ...

Four decades ago I took part in a Brighton festival workshop on the famous novel  Brighton Rock . It was an interesting experience, if a lit...

Forty five years ago today, I celebrated my birthday - on the Galapagos Islands. I should have a diary entry for that day as well as for all...

It is 40 years today since the death of the Scottish writer A. J. Cronin. One of his best books - The Stars Look Down - was turned into a g...

‘All day with Peggy Ashcroft reading through Happy Days . Magnificent play. It excited me to hear her read it.’ Today marks the 110th annive...

Today marks the 100th anniversary of the Balfour Declaration. This was, in effect, a statement of support by the UK government for the estab...