A Life in Letters plus a selection of, very many, essays

For the last 56 or so years Ewen Southby-Tailyour has written letters to most of the UK’s national newspapers, and a few military and yachting magazines, on every conceivable subject ranging from President Hollande’s wayward shadow to the driving habits of the Maltese. His eye for the ridiculous has led him to comment on the cover of an Enid Blyton paperback and what the pages of a book should smell of. He ponders on the present-day eating habits of Cambridge University’s undergraduates and wonders why the Met Office will not name the seasonal storms beginning with the letter Z. He praises the use of a world war two bandage to staunch a friend’s wound and even offers advice on how to hypnotise a scorpion and when to, and when not to, wear a tie. He is clearly disturbed whenever he sees the Union Flag being flown upside down!A fair number of his letters deal with more serious subjects such as the maritime defence of the United Kingdom and, bearing in mind his background, what to do if you fall overboard from a yacht. To end this miscellany, he presents a smattering of essays on subjects such as the loss of the brig Maria Asumpta on the north Cornish coast, the Royal Fleet Auxiliary Sir Galahad during the Falklands campaign and questions why Marine ‘A’ fell foul of ‘the system’. Read more