The Broken Compass
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Shakespeare, Catholicism, and pre-Reformation culture
How the long withdrawing shadow of festive England shaped the Elizabethan stage
Feb 11
•
Mathew Lyons
21
2
6
The writer's bookshelf: Jacqueline Riding
Eight questions about writers, books, and reading…
Feb 9
•
Mathew Lyons
23
2
8
Russell Hoban: inside the mystery of language
A celebration of the profound mischiefs and magic of his work
Feb 6
•
Mathew Lyons
36
24
10
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The writer's bookshelf: Victoria Moul
Sep 1, 2025
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Mathew Lyons
101
29
27
Re-imagining Elizabethan London
Aug 28, 2025
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Mathew Lyons
88
41
29
History in plain sight: four Anglo-Saxon churches to visit
May 23, 2025
•
Mathew Lyons
67
37
19
Nagasaki 1945
Aug 6, 2025
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Mathew Lyons
61
37
19
The Midnight Folk: memory, magic, and consolation
Nov 20, 2025
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Mathew Lyons
60
18
12
Beyond The Jungle Book: Kipling, Orwell, Rushdie and me
Dec 12, 2025
•
Mathew Lyons
56
44
13
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Review: Rock Art and its Legacy in Myth and Art by Christoph Baumer and Therese Weber
A breathtaking survey of the physical and metaphysical landscapes of our ancestors
Feb 4
•
Mathew Lyons
19
9
5
The writer's bookshelf: Francis Young
Eight questions about writers, books, and reading…
Feb 2
•
Mathew Lyons
38
15
12
Eight books to look out for in January
Upcoming history and non-fiction titles that have caught my eye
Jan 31
•
Mathew Lyons
34
19
8
Review: On Pedantry by Arnoud S.Q. Visser
An delightful history of intellectual caricature and disparagement
Jan 28
•
Mathew Lyons
16
2
5
The writer's bookshelf: Adrian Tinniswood
Eight questions about writers, books, and reading…
Jan 26
•
Mathew Lyons
28
11
9
Nottingham alabaster: objects of strangeness, mystery and devotion
How the English Reformation tried to obliterate a unique medieval artform
Jan 23
•
Mathew Lyons
36
21
16
The critic cornered
The day the late John Carey went too far
Jan 21
•
Mathew Lyons
119
48
28
The writer's bookshelf: Catherine Clarke
Eight questions about writers, books, and reading…
Jan 19
•
Mathew Lyons
33
9
16
Microhistories #13: revolution on the radio
How an early BBC news hoax terrified the nation
Jan 16
•
Mathew Lyons
16
4
6
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The Broken Compass
History, books & wonder
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Recommendations
View all 36
The Invisible Head
Alan Horn
A Poetry Notebook
Jem
History that Sparkles
Dr Nicola Tallis
In History by Helen Carr
Helen Carr
All Old Strange Things
Francis Young
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