The Man With Miraculous Hands by Joseph Kessel
Translated by Helen Weaver and Leo Raditsa Reviewed by Rob Spence If you were asked to suggest which real-life character was to be played by Woody Harrelson in his next…
After the Romanovs by Helen Rappaport
Reviewed by Rob Spence If you were tired of aimless flânerie in the Paris of the twenties, and fancied seeing Josephine Baker dancing at the Folies Bergère, you might be…
Architecture, Homes & Gardens
Art & Design, Craft & Photography
History & Politics, Feminism, Sociology
Non Fiction
Lifestyle Revolution: How taste changed class in late 20th-century Britain by Ben Highmore
Review by Annabel Some years ago, our Shiny editor-at-large, Simon, reviewed a book by Ben Highmore called The Great Indoors. That book explored typical homes over the last century or so…
Suburbs: A Very Short Introduction by Carl Abbott
Review by Liz Dexter There are by now over 700 Very Short Introductions, on the Book of Common Prayer, the Brain, Modern Latin American Literature, Volcanoes, inter alia, and now…
The Accidental Detectorist by Nigel Richardson
Review by Julie Barham If you are interested in the process of finding objects from the past, this book, subtitled “Uncovering an Underground Obsession” will probably draw you in with…
This Sporting Life: Sport and Liberty in England, 1760 -1960, by Robert Colls
Review by Rob Spence Last November, in the midst of the Covid pandemic, strikes by essential workers, transport chaos, a cost-of-living crisis and the continuing devastation of the war in…
The North Will Rise Again by Alex Niven
Review by Karen Langley If you’re at all familiar with the mass of political rhetoric spouted in the media over recent years, you’ll have seen the phrase ‘levelling up’ appearing…
Hollywood: The Oral History by Jeanine Basinger and Sam Wasson
Reviewed by Harriet Seven hundred and fifty pages sounds like a lot until you realise this book covers the entire history of Hollywood from its very beginnings to almost the…
Courtiers by Valentine Low
Review by Elaine Simpson-Long What is a courtier? According to dictionaries I have checked it seems there are two definitions: A person who is often in attendance at the court of…
A Waiter in Paris: Adventures in the Dark Heart of the City by Edward Chisholm
Review by Karen Langley Back in 1933, George Orwell published his groundbreaking work Down and Out in Paris and London, which explored his experiences of poverty in both cities. Now,…
Going to Church in Medieval England by Nicholas Orme
Reviewed by Liz Dexter Shortlisted for the 50th anniversary of the Wolfson History Prize, this hugely comprehensive work is by Emeritus Professor of History at Exeter University, Nicholas Orme, who…
Back to the Shops by Rachel Bowlby
Reviewed by Harriet I’m not sure what attracted me to Rachel Bowlby’s book when I spotted it in the OUP catalogue. But I’m very glad something did, as it’s proved…
A Spectre, Haunting: On The Communist Manifesto by China Miéville
Review by Karen Langley It’s hard to think of a book or political system more reviled nowadays than The Communist Manifesto and the various regimes it spawned. A political tract…
The Facemaker: One Surgeon’s Battle to Mend the Disfigured Soldiers of World War I, by Lindsey Fitzharris
Review by Annabel Lindsey Fitzharris is an American with a doctorate from Oxford in the History of Science, Medicine and Technology, and a post-doc fellowship from the Wellcome Trust. Her…
Brave Hearted: The Dramatic Story of Women of the American West, by Katie Hickman
Reviewed by Harriet Back in 2020 I reviewed Katie Hickman’s previous book, She-Merchants, Buccaneers and Gentlewomen, a fascinating account of the earliest British women to visit India. Their stories were…
100 Voices: 100 Women Share their Stories of Achievement, ed. Miranda Roszkowski
Review by Liz Dexter We need to read about the achievements of women, not least because we are constantly reminded of the achievements of men, who are more confident in…
Snow Widows: Scott’s Fatal Antarctic Expedition Through the Eyes of the Women They Left Behind by Katherine MacInnes
Review by Liz Dexter “I have chased the Snow Widows through dusty attics and auction rooms, and sifted them from history’s cutting room floors.” Two mothers; three wives; a scattering…
Exiles: Three Island Journeys by William Atkins
Review by Karen Langley In our turbulent modern world, the concept of exile is never far away from the headlines. Wars and religious conflicts constantly cause human beings to be…
This Woman’s Work: Essays on Music, edited by Sinéad Gleeson and Kim Gordon
Review by Liz Dexter This is a collection of writing by women about music, mainly about women in music, put together by visual artist, musician and writer Kim Gordon and…
Queen of Our Times: The Life of Elizabeth II, by Robert Hardman
Review by Elaine Simpson-Long There have been so many books written about ‘Her Maj’ and, I daresay, there will be more in the future, and striking the right note is…
Henry ‘Chips’ Channon: The Diaries 1938-1943 – Volume 2, edited by Simon Heffer
Review by Elaine Simpson-Long The second volume of these diaries was delivered by my postman, who was visibly having difficulty handing it over as he had a huge pile of…
Brittle With Relics: A History of Wales 1962-1997 by Richard King
Review by Liz Dexter In this extraordinary book, Richard King takes the voices of a hundred Welsh people who were active in various forms of culture and politics over the…
Biography & Memoir, Diaries
Books About Books, Publishing
History & Politics, Feminism, Sociology
Non Fiction
No One Round Here Reads Tolstoy: Memoirs of a Working-Class Reader by Mark Hodkinson
Review by Liz Dexter While he’s now a publisher and editor with his own imprint, Hodkinson grew up in a terrace house in Rochdale with one book in the house…
Stalin’s Library, by Geoffrey Roberts
Review by Basil Ransome-Davies One review of this book has come on quite strong against Roberts’ view of Stalin – prominent among the twentieth century’s most publicised murderous dictators and…