Literature

On 16 October 1930 Britain’s sense of its historical greatness was skewered with the release of 1066 and All That.

In the chaos unleashed by the October Revolution, Mikhail Bulgakov found a past become fragmented and confused, and history the domain of madmen and devils.

The lifelong rivalry of two early modern Neapolitan printers was a battle of books, power, and, ultimately, fire.

For those living on the Greek island of Ithaka, The Odyssey is written all around.

More than science waiting to be understood, The Medieval Moon: A History of Haunting and Blessing by Ayoush Lazikani illuminates the enchanted orb of poets.

Though its meaning may have shifted over the centuries since its Anglo-Saxon origins, ‘middle earth’ is far from fantasy.

José Martí Reader: Writings on the Americas, edited by Deborah Shnookal and Mirta Muñiz, collects the works of Cuba's ‘Apostle of Independence’.

‘What’s past is prologue’ Shakespeare wrote – but so little is known of his own. There are plenty of theories, each as implausible as the next.

Britain’s first book-of-the-month club – the Book Society – brought reading to a vast new audience. But not without some controversy.