Women and Power by Mary Beard
Reviewed by Liz Dexter Mary Beard is described as being ‘Britain’s best–known classicist on the inside front flap of this book. She’s also known for having experienced her unfair share…
Reviewed by Liz Dexter Mary Beard is described as being ‘Britain’s best–known classicist on the inside front flap of this book. She’s also known for having experienced her unfair share…
Review by Liz Dexter This entertaining and thought-provoking book is both a state-of-the-nation essay and an exercise in historical research and re-enactment and Maconie, being a seasoned writer and man…
Reviewed by Harriet If you’re a watcher of historical TV documentaries, you won’t need introducing to Lucy Worsley, who presents history programmes for the BBC, in which she often dresses…
Reviewed by Helen Parry Among the many people Anne Sebba interviewed for this book was the playwright Jean-Claude Grumberg. During the German occupation of France, Grumberg’s Jewish mother paid a…
Review by Harriet ‘Aphra Behn was a woman who wore masks’. So says Janet Todd at the beginning of this monumental, newly revised biography of Behn, who was a prolific…
Translated by Amanda DeMarco Reviewed by Rob Spence Berlin is one of my favourite cities, and I have spent a lot of time walking around its fascinating streets. So the…
Review by Annabel Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables is 150 years old in 2017, and doubtless there will be much attention paid them including this book by David Bellos, renowned professor…
Review by Simon Slightly Foxed are beloved for their reprints of memoirs from across the twentieth century, but they also have published a handful of new books – most of…
Reviewed by Laura Marriott The Temptation of Elizabeth Tudor concerns itself with the potential marriage between the teenage Elizabeth Tudor and Thomas Seymour. The book focuses primarily on Seymour, his story…
Reviewed by Anne Goodwin A civilised society must put structures in place to protect the vulnerable. When the vulnerable are children at risk from the actions or inactions of their…
Translated and annotated by David Ball Review by Terence Jagger This is a sombre book, the diary of a thoughtful but determined man – a teacher and writer who, 50…
Reviewed by Harriet This gorgeous book is subtitled ‘Life in the English Country House Between the Wars’, and certainly that is part of its subject. But it’s a book with…
Reviewed by Simon How many non-fiction books do you come across which combine literature, music, television, sports, science, and aliens? Not that many, I’m going to wager – but, then,…
Reviewed by Marina Sofia There are some who crave solitude, others who fear it. There are those who crave some idealized version of solitude, à la Thoreau, absorbing the lessons…
Translated by Robert Chandler, Elizabeth Chandler, Anne Marie Jackson and Irina Steinberg Reviewed by Karen Langley The Russian Revolution and ensuing Civil War were amongst the most brutal conflicts of…
Reviewed by Rob Spence The title of this book recalls Noel Coward’s jaunty song about the mad English, of course, and perhaps suggests that this will be a light-hearted romp…
Translated by Carol Brown Janeway Reviewed by Karen Langley There are many things we have to thank Pushkin Press for (Gaito Gazdanov, Teffi, gorgeously produced books, to name just a…
Reviewed by Rob Spence This book is a companion piece to Feigel’s The Love-Charm of Bombs (reviewed here), which examined the lives of some prominent writers in London during the Blitz and afterwards….
Reviewed by Terence Jagger ‘Refugees have only been allowed a walk-on part in most histories of the twentieth century, and even then as subjects of external intervention rather than as…
Reviewed by Falaise Back in the ancient mists of time – or, at least, 1986 – a youthful version of me (think a bad David Bowie hairstyle perched on top…
Reviewed by Ali Hope I read very few non-fiction books these days, but this was a book that ticked a number of boxes for me. I do like books about…
Reviewed by Harriet The Astonishing Story of the Project that Launched Mass-Observation So screams the cover of this book. I’m always a bit wary of cover blurbs, and I must…
Reviewed by Harriet No one becomes a criminal barrister to make large sums of money. A criminal practice has always been the least well paid and of the lowest status…
Reviewed by Harriet once I sat upon a promontoryAnd heard a mermaid on a dolphin’s backUttering such dulcet and harmonious breath,That the rude sea grew civil at her song;And certain…