For most Egyptians independence came with the revolution of July 1952, not with the end of the British protectorate in February 1922. Yet, as the experiences of three patriotic writers show, independence did not mean freedom.
Sherlock Holmes is the 19th century’s most famous cocaine user, but why did he take it?
A speculative novel about an amphibious threat held dire warnings for interwar Europe.
On the 100th anniversary of its publication, James Joyce’s Ulysses is widely regarded as a groundbreaking work of fiction, but can literature have any impact outside the confines of culture?
The author of the quaint, but much-loved Ladybird books was also a radical playwright.
Mills & Boon’s medical romances helped make the NHS more appealing to an ambivalent public.
An account of laughter as a force for societal good.
Throughout the centuries countless libraries and carefully curated book collections have been dispersed, destroyed or lost.
Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, was obsessed with falconry. This led him to write a truly revolutionary book on the subject.
Britain’s obscenity trials and censorship laws.
