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But a city is more than a place in space. It is a drama in time. Edinburgh is - the most condensed example, the visible microcosm of the social evolution which is manifest everywhere in the city. – Patrick Geddes. Keynote lecture, London University, July 1904 Few innovative thinkers have been

Clowns to the left and jokers to the right: the Scottish electorate is zugzwanged as David J Black sees it. Some weeks ago The Guardian’s Marina Hyde levelled a blast against Labour and its normally hesitant leader. Her headline, 'What was that dreadful thud? The sound of Keir Starmer falling

SNP leadership election? What’s that? Oakeshott v Hancock? Forget it. Boris’s bung for his dad – a knighthood was it? Do we care? The Macron-Sunak alliance? Missed that one. Some Stirling girl’s war movie up for an Oscar? Nope. A missile attack on a nuclear power station in U

David J Black makes a likely connection. Fans of the brilliant, yet chilling, HBO series Succession seem to assume that the part of merciless Logan Roy, played to terrifying perfection by Brian Cox, is a thinly disguised portrayal of the media mogul Rupert Murdoch. If so, they really don’t kno

See how the cookie crumbles: David J Black recounts a time when politicians, given the chance to practise what they preach, decided to just preach some more.

Review: Justice need not be static. In Scotland the lady, sans her blindfold, but with a vestige of the tell-tale scales in her left hand, once stood proudly over the doorway of Scotland’s 1639 Parliament with her companion Mercy until that building was ‘improved’ (i.e. largely dem

David J Black looks at how the Golden Turd plopped onto Edinburgh's skyline. Read part one here. It is true that every judgement as to what constitutes good or bad architecture is subjective, yet searching around Edinburgh to find someone who likes the Golden Turd Hotel is a fruitless task. The Scot

David J Black reminds the powers that be of the separation of powers. It goes without saying that all those who are in the business of dealing with the intricacies of legal process enjoy harvesting the ripened fruits of historic precedent. These can go back a long way, but not often as far as the 5

The perverse jury can be a fair fickle beast. The acquital of four defendants who quite clearly broke the law when they pulled down the statue of Edward Colston is a case in point. Manifestly, it was wantonly remiss of Bristol's Labour Council and Mayor to risk leaving the said effigy of the reprehe

What is admissible in evidence in our ongoing trial of the past? The Arab slave trade? Modern slavery across Asia? Or are rules and consistency passé? Does Lady Justice need scales or will the sword suffice? Edinburgh Council, for example, remains coy about its plaque in Abercromby Place that

An interesting little conundrum for those with too much time on their hands. The flash floods in Edinburgh’s fashionable Stockbridge area earlier this year did significant damage to property, but thankfully, in contrast to similar events in Germany, no lives were lost. For this we may be grate

Campaigners fighting to save one of Edinburgh’s finest streets are paying tribute to a relentless champion of the city’s heritage, as admirers prepare to mark their respects at his memorial service tomorrow. The Atholl Crescent residents’ campaign was effectively born late last yea

A replacement plaque was installed this morning at the base of the Melville Monument in St Andrew Square in Edinburgh.

David J Black wonders whether 'British art' is a term of mere invention. For those who enjoy a challenging book this one hits the mark perfectly. Eloquently written, intellectually rigorous, impeccably researched, the challenge is posed by its scope. The timespan encompasses a period of 65,000 years

David J Black reviews a brace of new books on Edinburgh, ‘Scotia’s darling seat’. Alistair Moffat’s A New History of Edinburgh could best be described as a quixotically compelling, if not always satisfying, read. A prolific writer with a well-known background in television, t