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Biography & Memoir, Diaries History & Politics, Feminism, Sociology Non Fiction Reprint Translated

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…

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Shiny New Books April 11, 2023
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History & Politics, Feminism, Sociology Non Fiction

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…

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Shiny New Books April 4, 2023
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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…

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Shiny New Books March 22, 2023
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Architecture, Homes & Gardens History & Politics, Feminism, Sociology Non Fiction

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…

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Shiny New Books March 21, 2023
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Ecology & Environment, Natural World History & Politics, Feminism, Sociology Non Fiction

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…

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Shiny New Books March 2, 2023
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History & Politics, Feminism, Sociology Non Fiction Sports & Leisure

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…

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Shiny New Books February 28, 2023
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History & Politics, Feminism, Sociology Non Fiction

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…

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Shiny New Books February 15, 2023
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Entertainment, Media History & Politics, Feminism, Sociology Non Fiction

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…

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Shiny New Books January 19, 2023
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History & Politics, Feminism, Sociology Non Fiction

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…

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Shiny New Books October 25, 2022
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Biography & Memoir, Diaries History & Politics, Feminism, Sociology Non Fiction

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,…

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Shiny New Books September 21, 2022
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History & Politics, Feminism, Sociology Non Fiction Relligion

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…

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Shiny New Books July 26, 2022
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History & Politics, Feminism, Sociology Non Fiction

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…

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Shiny New Books July 19, 2022
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History & Politics, Feminism, Sociology Non Fiction

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…

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Shiny New Books June 30, 2022
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History & Politics, Feminism, Sociology Mind and Body, Medicine, Psychology Non Fiction

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…

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Shiny New Books June 28, 2022
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History & Politics, Feminism, Sociology Non Fiction

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…

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Shiny New Books June 16, 2022
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Biography & Memoir, Diaries History & Politics, Feminism, Sociology Non Fiction

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…

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Shiny New Books June 14, 2022
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Biography & Memoir, Diaries History & Politics, Feminism, Sociology Non Fiction Travel & the World

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…

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Shiny New Books June 9, 2022
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History & Politics, Feminism, Sociology Non Fiction Travel & the World

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…

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Shiny New Books June 2, 2022
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Entertainment, Media Essays History & Politics, Feminism, Sociology Music Non Fiction

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…

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Shiny New Books April 21, 2022
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Biography & Memoir, Diaries History & Politics, Feminism, Sociology Non Fiction

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…

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Shiny New Books April 21, 2022
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Biography & Memoir, Diaries History & Politics, Feminism, Sociology Non Fiction

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…

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Shiny New Books April 12, 2022
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History & Politics, Feminism, Sociology Non Fiction

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…

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Shiny New Books March 31, 2022
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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…

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Shiny New Books March 1, 2022
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Books About Books, Publishing History & Politics, Feminism, Sociology Non Fiction

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…

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Shiny New Books February 22, 2022
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