Tag: historical

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A Ray of Darkness

Pippa Marland finds in this classic female autobiography, endorsed by current international epilepsy neurologists, an unrelenting commitment to honesty

PUBLISHED ON: 02/08/22

CATEGORY: Reviews

Pippa Marland finds in this classic female autobiography, endorsed by current international epilepsy neurologists and representing startlingly contemp …

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That Green Eyed Girl

Suspense and intrigue grip TK Quentin as they read and listen to this moving queer debut novel of suppressed identity, notable for its elegant and sophisticated prose

PUBLISHED ON: 02/08/22

CATEGORY: Reviews

Suspense and intrigue grip TK Quentin as they read and listen to this moving queer debut novel of suppressed identity, notable for its elegant and sop …

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Donna

Jemma L King is impressed by this irrepressible picture starring an older Trans heroine, witness to an original milestone in LGBTQ history, the Compton’s Cafeteria Riot, predating the 1969 NYC Stonewall riots

PUBLISHED ON: 28/07/22

CATEGORY: Reviews

It’s been a while since Wales has had an international hit, film-wise, but hopefully, all that is set to change over the next few months with two bran …

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The Leading Question

Belinda Cooke recommends this no holds barred condemnation of the crime against humanity that was the Irish Famine

PUBLISHED ON: 28/07/22

CATEGORY: Reviews

    Roger Elkin The High Window Press     This collection has Elkin rising to his own challenge:   Who will set down their narrative th …

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The Green Indian Problem, The Blue Book of Nebo

Tim Cooke admires two novels that make innovative use of epistolary forms written from the point of view of children, both firmly rooted in their Welsh locations and exploring themes of identity, change and the mother–child relationship

PUBLISHED ON: 28/06/22

CATEGORY: Reviews

Writing in the first person from a child’s perspective is fraught with difficulty. Achieving an authentic language, delivering realistic insights and …

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The Village

Chris Moss finds here a text littered with historical nuggets and quotidian anecdotes challenging or confirming stereotypes about ‘the village’, while black and white photography turns the humdrum into art or social history

PUBLISHED ON: 27/04/22

CATEGORY: Reviews

Cities are hip. Towns are gritty. Hamlets are romantic. Capitals are – snooty accent coming – capital. Villages are problematic. What do you think of …

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Hafez and Jones: Poets United for Peace

Shara Atashi on the links between eighteenth-century polyglot William Jones and fourteenth-century Persian poet Hafez

PUBLISHED ON: 30/03/22

CATEGORY: Column

(Above) frieze at University College, Oxford chapel showing Sir William Jones taking notes from Hindi speakers and scholars, (top) roof of Hafez tomb …

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The Making – and Unmanning – of the Welsh Collier

A comparative history, a repackaged work of nonfiction and an essay collection provide a rich seam of reflections, writes Chris Moss in this feature-length review-essay

PUBLISHED ON: 30/03/22

CATEGORY: Essays, Reviews

MIners’ houses, Trealaw, Rhondda Valley by Isabel Alexander, from Miner’s Day.   Miner’s Day by BL Coombes, with illustrations [‘Rhondda images’] …

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The Bloodless Boy

This meticulously researched Restoration whodunit has prescient themes of extremist politics, political instability and corruption at the highest level, writes Liz Jones

PUBLISHED ON: 01/03/22

CATEGORY: Reviews

London, New Year’s Day 1678, twelve years after the Great Fire and eighteen since the fall of Oliver Cromwell’s republic and the restoration of the mo …

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Lady Charlotte Guest: The Exceptional Life of a Female Industrialist

Dr Wyn Thomas finds this a riveting and well-crafted account of an industrialist, philanthropist and the Mabinogi’s first editor and translator

PUBLISHED ON: 25/01/22

CATEGORY: Reviews

I began reading Victoria Owen’s account of Lady Charlotte Guest, knowing little about Lady Charlotte and what she accomplished. On concluding the book …

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