where the past is not past and culture is not in flames
Welcome to the Burning Archive. Here since 2015 I have kept safe from the flames of cultural decay my responses to the writers, stories, institutions and traditions that make the flowers of my mind.
I have many interests, but they centre on history, culture, writing, and governing well. Explore the site. Listen to my podcast. Buy my books. Join the infinite conversation.
Jeff Rich, Melbourne, 2022.
Image credit: Elizabeth Butler, Remnants of an Army (1879) Tate Gallery I have finished reading William Dalrymple‘s mesmerising and tragical history of the first Anglo-Afghan War (1839-42), Return of a King: the battle for Afghanistan. It tells the story of the British invasion of Afghanistan, or, as it was known by its local rulers then, […]
The Burning Archive 