One of the things that I found fascinating when studying the Reformation was the discovery of reliquaries. These objects, containers holding all sorts of religious emblems of veneration (from the last breath of Christ to hands, ribs, feet, blood, pieces of the true cross and everything in between) were far outside my cultural framework. Having … Continue reading
Category Archives: History
Book review: Southern Emancipator
Wow. So, I should know a lot about Moncure Conway, but I don’t. I’m rectifying that knowledge gap this year, for multiple reasons (one being PhD reasons). So I picked up Southern Emancipator: Moncure Conway: The American Years, 1832-1865 from the delightful library at Conway Hall (Conway Hall named after him, of course). It’s hard … Continue reading
Book reviews / Comics / History / Non fiction
Book review: Supergods
I think I picked up this book by Grant Morrison at the comics exhibition at the British Museum. I have read a few comics by Morrison, like Joe the Barbarian and All Star Superman. I enjoyed both. So in the post-script to the paperback edition, he describes Supergods as a subjective history. Ah ha ha … Continue reading
Book review: The Ends of the Earth
The ends of the earth is the smooshing together of two anthologies about the arctic and antarctic. It’s a mixture of both the best fiction and non-fiction stories about these two interesting places. I think I preferred the old journals of the first explorers and the science excerpts more than any of the non-fiction prose. … Continue reading
Book review: SPQR
My classics knowledge is about 12 years old now, and only a first year undergraduate class at that, so it nice to read about it once again. Mary Beard’s book is excellent in a many ways. Here are a few of my highlights. Firstly, despite all the history, latin and complicated life and law of … Continue reading
Book review: Rebel footprints
Okay, everyone just buy this book because it is fabulous. Especially if you live in London and love its history. It’s 10 chapters of radical protest, documenting both campaign successes and failures throughout various bits of London – from Battersea to Bermondsey and Clerkenwell to Shoreditch. It is populated with the most amazing people, union … Continue reading
Book review: A Great Game
About halfway through this book, I looked at the author’s inset and realised that it was written by Canada’s current Prime Minister, Stephen Harper. Oops. It apparently took 8 years to write, with lots of other people helping with the research. I don’t doubt that he wrote a lot of it, because the language feels … Continue reading
Book review: The power of knowledge
This is not a book for the faint of heart. My version is a giant hardcover that runs at 412 pages but feels more like 800. It is big. It is long. However, it doesn’t mean that it isn’t interesting. Or at least, large parts of it. The central thesis is that the accumulation of … Continue reading
Book review: Woodie Guthrie, American Radical
This was an excellent read, a super dense 207 pages that covers Woody’s life and exactly how bloody radical he was. It’s hard to believe there was such a large radical left movement in the United States. Then you’re reminded again of McCarthyism and it’s horrors and you understand why it’s so hard to rebuild. … Continue reading
Book review: The People’s Car
The People’s Car: A global history of the Volkswagon Beetle – Bernhard Riegar A few months ago @psythor and I went to the German exhibition at the British Museum. Of course, going through the bookshop, I couldn’t help but pick up this book. It is what it says on the tin – a global history … Continue reading
