The Elizabethans

by A.N. Wilson. Tales from the reign of Good Queen Bess. Having enjoyed Wilson's earlier book about the reign of a later queen, The Victorians, I was looking forward to finding out a bit more about the reign of the first Queen Elizabeth. The Elizabethans is a pretty good book. There was a bit too… Continue reading The Elizabethans

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The English Village

by Martin Wainwright. An enjoyable short history of what made England England. I enjoyed this brief history of the English village. I was particularly pleased by how much emphasis Martin Wainwright—a Guardian writer and Northerner blogger—places on northern English village life, which tends to get overlooked by the southern media. I was also delighted to… Continue reading The English Village

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Granta 118: Exit Strategies

by John Freeman (ed.). Too much fiction, yet again. For once, most of the pieces in this edition of Granta actually seem to fit the chosen theme, Exit Strategies, very well. Most of the pieces are about people trying to get out of particular situations. There are a couple of excellent pieces of memoir, particularly… Continue reading Granta 118: Exit Strategies

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