Brian Bollen's Blog

The Jacobite Rebellion: read all about it

Title: The Jacobite Rebellion

Author: Paul Adams

Publisher: The Book Guild Publishing

Pp: 227

Price: £7.99

ISBN: 978-1-912362-55-4

 

I asked for a review copy of this book because I liked the sound of the basic premise. Charles Edward Stuart is arrested and held by the police on suspicion of terrorism, specifically a threat to overthrow the monarchy and replace the Queen with the real Charles Stuart, a modern day Bonnie Prince Charlie. As a Scot who has lived in England for nearly 40 years, that piqued my interest.

Paul Adams can certainly write light humour, of that there is no doubt, and I say that as someone whose own professional writing life started with gags and sketches for BBC radio and TV. In fact, as I said to the publisher, his style sounds very much in tone like the satire I deployed in my own (so far unpublished) comic novels with an Emergency Holographic Detective (EHD-1) at their core.

I have enjoyed the 50 pages I read yesterday after the book arrived in the morning post and I am looking forward to reading more today, but the half a dozen minor typoes and grammatical errors are irritating and interrupt the reading flow for this linguistic pedant.

As a full-time writer and editor I know how easy it can be for this to happen but if the 1100 or so pages that make up The Lord of the Rings can be proofread properly, so surely can The Jacobite Rebellion.

But that is a quibble; I am enjoying the story and want to read more. That almost literally speaks volumes...

15.27h, July 1 2018...Just finished reading the book. The typoes and grammatical errors irked me to the end, and the humour began to grate about half way through. But I did want to see how it finished, despite the sloppy editing and the contrived jokes. It made a big difference from all the biographies, autobiographies and World War II escape books I've read recently.

Brexit vote two years on: UK economy falters

Schroders senior European economist, Azad Zangana, considers the implications for the UK's economic growth and interest rate prospects. 

The UK economy was supposed to plunge into recession soon after the vote to leave the EU, but the majority of forecasters were wrong. 

After the trade war wobbles

Mint - Blain’s Morning Porridge

The Morning Porridge is unrestricted market commentary freely available to all investors on an unsolicited basis. It is not investment research. 

After the trade war wobbles earlier this week, it feels like we’re on more or less an even keel this morning. What can possibly go wrong next? (Form an orderly queue to the right please..)

Independence is better than meat

Mint - Blain’s Morning Porridge

A free man can live on fish. Independence is better than meat.

The Morning Porridge is unrestricted market commentary freely available to all investors on an unsolicited basis. It is not investment research.

Today, it’s all about Iceland! The giant-killing demi-gods of football slaughtered Argentina in a 1-all draw! [Think Led Zep riff: Da da da dada!] What other mere team can possibly match them? The population of Edinburgh is 100k people bigger than the whole of Iceland! And, since the Icelanders are pretty much Scots according to their DNA, I’m now a fanatical fan!

Of all extinct life-forms

Mint - Blain’s Morning Porridge

Of all extinct life-forms, dinosaurs are the most popular. Why that should be is not clear…

The Morning Porridge is unrestricted market commentary freely available to all investors on an unsolicited basis. It is not investment research. 

All eyes on the US Federal Reserve today. They will hike by 25 basis points to 2 percent – the sixth hike in seven quarters. Slow and gradual.

I wish they wouldn’t land those things here while we’re playing golf....

Mint - Blain’s Morning Porridge

The Morning Porridge is unrestricted market commentary freely available to all investors on an unsolicited basis. It is not investment research. 

What joy to be back at my desk after two weeks sailing round the Atlantic coast of La Belle France.

These headlines cannot both be right

Just had two press releases about investment commentary land in my in-tray. One says: 

Bitcoin Volatility Is Back.

The other says: The end of Bitcoin volatility?

They can't both be right, can they?

Sustainable Finance for Breakfast (10)

A round-table meeting on developments in the sustainable finance space. With Ben Caldecott (Oxford Sustainable Finance Programme), Karthik Iyer (Climate Bonds) and Katie Stafford (Schroders).

To be held on Wednesday, June 20, 2018, 8:30-10:00am. At Deloitte, 2 New Street Sq, London EC4A 3BZ Register by emailing [email protected] or phoning the Centre (0207 621 1056).

Schroders strengthens Solutions

Schroders is today announcing that it has strengthened its Solutions business globally with a key hire to its London headquarters and the expansion of its US footprint.  

A suggestion for the future of European club football

I read with interest that there are plans to expand European club football, probably at the expense of domestic leagues. I have a suggestion that might help.

Why not have two distinct squads of players, one registered for European football and the other for domestic football?

According to the financial reports being discussed, there is plenty of money sloshing around the game, with possibly more to come, and a lot of clubs already have bloated squads so probably wouldn't have to recruit any more players to field two separate teams. Circle squared. I expect my knighthood to be in the post shortly...

Schroders executes SYPA risk management strategy

Schroders is today announcing that it has executed a £2.6 billion equity risk management strategy for the South Yorkshire Pensions Authority (SYPA). It says this is understood to be one of the largest of its type undertaken to date in the Local Government Pension Scheme space.