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Joshua Bonehill-Paine. What a name to conjure with! Did it influence the path in life he has taken (nominative determinism) or is it just well suited to the person he is (an aptonym)?

In our increasingly authoritarian age, there are some areas in which, rather bizarrely, we have more choice than ever. In terms of personal relationships, there is nowadays a wide variety of choices.

In April and May of 2022. I wrote two articles for Only Connect about the Falklands War of 1982, which argued that, despite being a decisive military victory, the Falklands War in fact represented a significant diplomatic and political failure.

It began online. I submitted my request for a book and was told to provide “eight working days’ notice” prior to my planned visit. I wasn’t surprised – and pleased when I was given an appointment within a few days. Not many people will want to read about the Maladies et Insectes Nuisibles (Diseases and Insect Pests), part of Auguste Chevalier’s multi-volume treatise on Les Caféièrs du Globe (Coffees of the World), published in the 1940s.

The Trump Ban is still imposed by our Only Connect Editor, even in this year and month, 250 years since the Founding Fathers threw off the British yoke and began their fight for freedom. Would they have done it if they had had even a momentary vision of the 45th and 47th President, our own hard-swearing, humourless, self-adoring Donald, building his golden ballroom?