charles barrow's writing

I've been enthralled by Green Planet, David Attenborough's latest triumph, currently being screened by the BBC. The production values are just gorgeous, as we've come to expect from these films, but the stories behind the plants that we get up-close and personal with are just extraordinary. I've been watching it on my own but, at least twice in every program, I've asked the TV (and any other piece of furniture that might be listening) 'How the actual Dickens does the plant know to do that?' If it wouldn't alarm my elderly neighbours, I'd be shouting the question. What has been prompting this? Well, here's an example, we've seen a type of grass in Africa that needs its seed to be buried in the soil swiftly, in order to avoid it lying on the ground for any length of time in the extreme heat. So, it disguises its seeds as antelope dung in the hopes that the local dung beetles will roll the seeds away and bury them...at the perfect depth needed f

I recently discovered a series of books called Everyman's Pocket Classics. Each volume is filled with short stories from a variety of well known authors (current to classic), and is arranged around a theme. Love Stories, Bedtime Stories, Christmas Stories, Cat, Erotic, Dog, Detective, Ghost, Wedding, Motherhood, the list goes on and on. They are handsome books with colourful covers, a stripy spine, and a built-in bookmark. They are hardbacks, but being 'Pocket' editions they come in at the size of a paperback. I like them a lot. My favourite theme is the one that focuses on cities, hence the volumes you see below - yes I realise that Russia is a country. F urther titles include  Berlin, Prague, Florence, and Rome. I've been picking up my copies in second-hand bookshops and paying only a few £££s for each one, which is great value. I love the city of London, it's somewhere I'll be visiting again very soon. I've enjoyed some great stays in Paris, and would lov