Kozlova, or Paddington, is a threat to their fragile status quo – in which nobody questions their position, because their white male privilege means that they can take short-cuts through life without consequence. They believe that power, influence, and authority are their birth-right - because they are white men – so Kozlova’s treasures should theirs, and Paddington should pay for Phoenix Buchanan’s ego with his liberty, while Phoenix Buchanan keeps his.

The other men in the story – from Henry and Jonathan Brown, to Dr Jafri and Colonel Lancaster – are all kindly, but self-involved. Henry is in the throes of a mid-life crisis, having been passed over for a promotion in favour of a younger man. Jonathan is busy creating a new, fake identity for himself as some kind of slatted-sunglass-weari...

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