Tag Archives: Britain

A Time Traveler’s Guide to Elizabethan England

Posted on April 19, 2018 by smellincoffee

A Time Traveler’s Guide to Elizabethan England© 2014 Ian Mortimer415 pages Previously Ian Mortimer has offered readers with access to a time machine a handbook for medieval England. Perhaps mystery plays based on Scripture are not your interest, however, and you’d … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , | 8 Comments

The Birth of Britain

Posted on April 16, 2018 by smellincoffee

History of the English Speaking Peoples, Vol 1: The Birth of Britain521 pages© 1956 Sir Winston Churchill I’ve been reading from Sir Winston Churchill’s History of the English Speaking Peoples the last few Read of Englands, but didn’t previously have … Continue reading →

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Wisdom and Innocence

Posted on April 5, 2018 by smellincoffee

Wisdom and Innocence: A Life Of G.K. Chesterton © 1996 Joseph Pearce 540 pages “I cannot help but thinking you were England — the Merry, chivalrous, simple-hearted, fearless England that I loved.” – an old friend’s letter to Chesteron Mention … Continue reading →

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The Time Traveler’s Guide to Medieval England

Posted on February 11, 2018 by smellincoffee

The Time Traveler’s Guide to Medieval England: A Handbook for Visitors to the Fourteenth Century© 2008 Ian Mortimer342 pages Within minutes of being transported to the time of King Arthur,  Mark Twain’s fictional Yankee found himself arrested and facing death.  … Continue reading →

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Munich

Posted on January 14, 2018 by smellincoffee

Munich© 2018 Robert Harris354 pages By this time tomorrow, Adolf Hitler could be dead… The year is 1938, and Europe is again sliding into war — a war that only one man wants.  The man is Adolf Hitler, who is … Continue reading →

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Fools and Mortals

Posted on January 12, 2018 by smellincoffee

Fools and Mortals© 2017 Bernard Cornwell384 pages Brevity is the soul of wit, so here’s an attempt at a quick  review.  Bernard Cornwell usually writes war novels, and he’s magnificent at it. But he surely gets tired of it, and … Continue reading →

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Down and Out in Paris and London

Posted on December 7, 2017 by smellincoffee

Down and Out in Paris and London© 1933 George Orwell224 pages “Have they no refuge or resource?” cried Scrooge. “Are there no prisons?” said the Spirit, turning on him for the last time with his own words. “Are there no … Continue reading →

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The Dragon Seekers

Posted on October 31, 2017 by smellincoffee

The Dragon Seekers: How An Extraordinary Cicle Of Fossilists Discovered The Dinosaurs And Paved The Way For Darwin© 2009 Christopher McGowan272 pages Ancient bones and magnets were both known to antiquity, but not until the 19th century did their importance … Continue reading →

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Rousseau and Revolution

Posted on August 2, 2017 by smellincoffee

Rousseau and Revolution© 1957 Will and Ariel Durant1092 pages “…little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fallen upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor, and of … Continue reading →

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The Adventure of English

Posted on May 17, 2017 by smellincoffee

The Adventure of English: The Biography of a Language© 2011 Melvyn Bragg336 pages In The Adventure of English, Melvin Bragg delivers a mythic history of the language that treats our lingua franca as a living personality — battered and now … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Reviews | Tagged , , | 4 Comments