This essay was originally published by Unherd in May 2024. An elegantly dressed woman is polishing her nails, looking into the camera with a kind of feline arrogance. Before her on the dressing table lies a beautiful pair of hairbrushes, while in the background a young man is making the bed, straightening the duvet with … Continue reading How Habitat Made Britain’s Middle Class

This review was originally published by Engelsberg Ideas in April 2024. In December 1958 an All-African People’s Conference was held in Accra, capital of the newly independent Ghana. It brought together delegates from 28 African countries, many of them still European colonies. Their purpose, according to Ghanaian prime minister Kwame Nkrumah, was ‘planning for a … Continue reading The Sublime Hubris of Tropical Modernism

This essay appeared in my regular newsletter, The Pathos of Things, in March 2024. Subscribe here.  This week I was lucky enough to attend a symposium at the Royal College of Art, on a subject that is close to my heart – and even closer to my rear: the chair. This is one of those … Continue reading Take a Seat

This essay was originally published by Unherd in March 2024. In most circumstances, finding your car submerged in mud up to the fenders is a sign that something has gone badly wrong. For the off-road enthusiasts of the Shire Land Rover Club, it is the entire point of having a car. This was one of … Continue reading The Cult of Land Rover