Slightly Foxed #90: 'Sailing On'

by Gail Pirkis (Editor), Hazel Wood (Editor)

In this issue: Julia Jones shares a boat with Arthur Ransome • Tim Blanchard revisits the case of the Yorkshire Ripper • Sarah Wedderburn admires Valley of the Dolls • James Runcie discovers the short stories of Stacy Aumonier • Daisy Hay goes shopping with Evelina • Andrew Ryan meets the players of The Biggest Game in Town • Posy Fallowfield is moved and appalled by The Grapes of Wrath • Chris Saunders follows the story of the Great White Whale • Anthony Longden remembers a wartime summer in Suffolk . . .

96 pages, Paperback

Published June 1, 2026

Reviews

[Cindy Rollins · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a delightful summer edition including old friends—Arthur Ransome, Jacqueline Susann, and Herman Melville, along with intriguing wanna-be friends, most notably, Simon Aumonier.

[Colin · Rating 4 out of 5]

The usual lucky dip of beautifully written pieces about books familiar and unfamiliar. Highlights from this issue include Patrick Welland on Eric Lomax’s tale of starvation and torture on the Burma railway and subsequent redemption, The Railway Man; Boyd Tonkin on the proto-nature writing of Richard Jefferies and Anthony Longden on Suffolk Summer, a USAF Navigator’s warmly remembered memoir of a wartime posting to East Anglia.

[D'face · Rating 5 out of 5]

Slightly Foxed #90 Spring 2026 - ‘summer afternoon’ are two of the most beautiful words in the English language. The opening piece is about Arthur Ransome and his boats, one of which the author came to own. The Railway Man about a man tortured during the war and hating his interrogator until he got help and was able to meet and forgive his enemy. The Biggest Game in Town about playing poker. The Regency novels of Fanny Burney. The pioneering ecologist Richard Jefferies. John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath. An American soldier’s account of summer in Suffolk during the war. The Memoirs of Edward Gibbon of Decline and Fall fame. The Valley of the Dolls. (It really is a very diverse and diverting little periodical!). An ecological account of seven tenths of our planet, the sea. The story of the Yorkshire Ripper. The rehabilitation of Moby Dick, in part due to an accomplished illustrator. The Ides of March. La Regenta an epic Spanish novel. The one I did add to my reading list was: Miss Bracegirdle and Others by Stacy Aumonier, who I had not previously heard of. The quarterly finishes with Ted Simon’s Jupiter’s Travels about touring the world on a motorcycle.

[Marie-Clare · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another wonderful collection of enthusiasm and insight.

[Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great collection of articles mainly read on trains as I headed off on my own small adventures. Perfect reading material for an adventure, even a small one