The 1930s is arguably a decade of British life overlooked by many historians given the rich pickings of events that followed in the forties. Of course the political history of Britain, the growing threat of Hitler’s Germany, the abdication of King Edward VIII and ongoing debates over British rule of India are among those stories [...]

Most people will have heard of War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy and appreciate that it is a whopper of a book, which I would venture few ever managed to finish. Fortunately this new film doesn’t take so long to watch and is based on the final year of Tolstoy’s life.
The year of 1910 is [...]

Having scooped three awards at the Brits, Lady Gaga kicked off her tour of Britain and Ireland in Manchester on February 18th. The eccentric American songstress, who takes her name from the Queen hit Radio Gaga, certainly didn’t disappoint her fans with a huge array of costumes and special effects at the start of her [...]

There probably hasn’t been a more talked about band in the history of rock‘n’roll than the Beatles. The Fab Four were famous across the globe in the 1960s and still are some 40 years after they split up.
However, Backbeat recalls the period before the band was famous and contained a less familiar line up, with [...]

Seven years on from Johnny Cash’s death you wonder how much more material can be released that is both original and great to listen to. Remarkably this latest release from the Americans series manages to achieve this without resorting to rehashing old tracks to make up the numbers.
The American series began in the early 1990s [...]

In the year we are celebrating the bicentenary of Frederic Chopin’s birth it is perhaps apt that a new CD should be released in his honour, although Jonathan Plowright’s work will probably not be the last. This new recording is actually an imaginative compilation by Plowright, who is recognised across the globe as one the [...]

In this age of the internet it hard to believe that Google was only founded in 1998, given it is one of the most famous brands in the world today. Their success is such that in 2008 they achieved revenues of $28 billion, which is quite a phenomenal achievement for a company just 10 years [...]

Any film where the leading actor is tipped as favourite to win an Oscar must be worth watching. Crazy Heart is no exception as Jeff Bridges turns out an excellent performance as Bad Blake, a country singer in meltdown.
Bridges has of course been turning out excellent performances since his rise to fame in the 1971 [...]