‘The Great White Bard’ and ‘Shakespeare Without a Life’ review
Two significant new publications push the parameters of how we engage with the most revered writer in the English language.
Volume 73 Issue 7 July 2023
Pulp Fiction
Marketed as the taste of French summer, Orangina’s origins are complicated.
Crowning Triumph
Westminster Abbey was the focus of the world during the recent coronation. How and why was it built?
The Life Aquatic
Hong Kong in the 1950s had a nomadic floating population that needed to be counted in the census – but how?
‘The Gospel of J. Edgar Hoover’ by Lerone A. Martin review
J. Edgar Hoover, director of the FBI from 1924 to 1972, thought the Bureau’s mission was to defeat the godless forces of liberalism, feminism and civil rights.
‘The Letters, Writings, and Speeches of Oliver Cromwell, Volume I’, ‘II’ and ‘III’ review
From backbench MP and minor gentleman to Lord Protector and almost-king, a new edition provides the most complete and accurate version of Oliver Cromwell’s writings to date.
Korea the Kingmaker
The Korean peninsula was a chessboard on which the fates of great powers were decided.
The Other Favourite
Christopher Hatton rose to great power as a favourite of Elizabeth I. Born in obscurity, why has he returned to it?
Good for Nothing
As the 19th century wore on, social reformers campaigned for charitable modernisation. Their target: England’s most useless foundations.
The Year of the Four, Five, Six Emperors
For citizens of Ancient Rome, the recurrence of brutal civil war was par for the course. For writers, it was an opportunity.