‘Who Owns This Sentence?’ review
Who Owns This Sentence? A History of Copyrights and Wrongs by David Bellos and Alexandre Montagu has plenty of copy but is it right?
Literature
How the Lisbon Earthquake Shook the Enlightenment
The earthquake that hit Lisbon in 1755 toppled buildings and shook the foundations of the Enlightenment. Was God punishing humanity, or was the disaster man-made?
Shakespeare’s Sister Speaks
Could a text thought to be by Shakespeare’s father actually be his sister’s writing?
The Publication of Nineteen Eighty-Four
On 8 June 1949, George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four was published. His final novel, its themes had been present throughout his literary career.
‘Bluestockings’ by Susannah Gibson review
Bluestockings: The First Women’s Movement by Susannah Gibson makes a case for 18th-century proto-feminism. Do the Bluestockings fit?
The Prophecies of Merlin
As told by one medieval chronicler, Britain’s past and future had been prophesied by Merlin, who foresaw its rise, fall and conquest. Did the magician have warnings for the present?
Life and Land in Anglo-Saxon England
The Anglo-Saxons knew that life – and land – is precarious, which makes its gifts precious.
‘Shakespeare’s Sisters’ by Ramie Targoff review
Shakespeare’s Sisters: Four Women Who Wrote the Renaissance by Ramie Targoff refutes the claim by Virginia Woolf, that the women of Tudor England left only empty bookshelves.
Was the Trojan Horse Real?
Did the Greeks really trick their way into Troy inside a gigantic wooden horse?
‘Reading It Wrong’ by Abigail Williams review
Reading It Wrong: An Alternative History of Early Eighteenth-Century Literature by Abigail Williams argues that misunderstanding popular literature was a sign of its success.