Extreme weather events came to be regarded as natural phenomena to be explained. Of course some have still to catch up.
Read More »Natalie Bennett
Book Review: Homo Britannicus – The Incredible Story of Human Life in Britain by Chris Stringer
What can the Gravettians of 27,000 years ago teach us about climate change? Quite a lot.
Read More »Book Review: Byzantium – The Surprising Life of a Medieval Empire by Judith Herrin
On this account Byzantium didn't just passively preserve ancient traditions, as Gibbon claimed, but creatively developed them.
Read More »Theater Review (London): Liberty at the Globe
There's sex, there's passion, there's politics here, in a nicely, if a touch too calculatingly, assembled mix.
Read More »Book Review: The Hidden History of Women’s Ordination – Female Clergy in the Medieval West by Gary Macy
In the modern context of controversy about the place of women in various churches this is explosive stuff.
Read More »Book Review – The Upside of Down: Catastrophe, Creativity and the Renewal of Civilisation by Thomas Homer-Dixon
You might think that the world doesn't need another why-the-Roman-empire-collapsed theory. You'd be wrong.
Read More »Theatre Review (London): Her Naked Skin at the National
The truly memorable scenes are those at the heart of the suffragette struggle.
Read More »Theater Review (London): Cosi at the White Bear, Kennington
If any of the currently dark and silent West End theatres are looking for a transfer show, they could do a lot worse.
Read More »Book Review: Blood River – A Journey to Africa’s Broken Heart by Tim Butcher
Takes you gently through the 20th-century horror ride that is the history of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Read More »Book Review: The Janissary Tree by Jason Goodwin
Goodwin not only knows 19th-century Istanbul intimately, but he's got a close eye for detail and a fine line in elaborate plotting.
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