Thank you! I thought Llewelyn's answers were terrific too. He isn't on here, I think, which is a shame.
Writer, historian. FRHistS. Recent work: History Today, The Spectator, Slightly Foxed, New Humanist, Engelsberg Ideas.
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Thank you! I thought Llewelyn's answers were terrific too. He isn't on here, I think, which is a shame.
New on the Writer’s Bookshelf: eight questions about writers, books, and reading with the wonderful Llewelyn Morgan - featuring John Masefield, Aristotle, Rudyard Kipling, Matthew Arnold, Iain Pears and more!
I’ve been meaning to buy this for a while. This copy used to be part of the BBC record library, it seems. All part of the patina, I suppose. There’s plenty of that in the grooves too, but very happy to have it!
A wonderful book.
Despite his strong claim to have been the first king of a united England, the enigmatic Æthelstan has long been neglected by historians. His remarkable achievements are finally being recognised. When England began | Samuel Rubinstein engelsbergideas.com/reviews/when...
Michael Wood. Hadn't thought of him, but 100% yes.
Fascinated that In Our Time is one of the BBC’s most popular podcasts among under 35s. The young people demand three academics and a peer discussing Demosthenes, apparently. And they’re right to do so.
Really enjoyed this. Lots of great quotes. (My own favourites include Burgess’ ‘this is clearly from the north face of the vineyard, where the diabetic tom cat goes for a pee’ and Hemingway’s ‘this wine makes your eyeballs feel rusty’.)
… –– and stay for her thoughts on the art of re-reading, what constitutes Literature with a capital L, and much, much more! open.substack.com/pub/mathewly...
In case you missed it, here’s the latest, magnificent edition of the Writer’s Bookshelf featuring Victoria Moul as a guest. Come for her thoughts on everything from Antonia Forest to Proust, Barbara Trapido to the Book of Common Prayer, H. Rider Haggard to Virgil…
Just as long as it isn't Fiona Bruce.
Preparing my talk on the Second World War as sexual revolution for next weekend's We Have Ways fest. I love this Fougasse Punch cartoon from the Changing Face Of Britain series, showing mags evolving thanks to the war from the everyday to militarism to the erotic
I have a few of my dad's old Fougasse books. Love his work!
Who do you want to replace Melvyn Bragg at In Our Time? And who do think will replace him?
Melvyn Bragg has been one of the last standard-bearers for a really important, and unfashionable, idea: that good conversation, between people who really know their stuff, on complex or difficult subjects, can be fantastic radio - and that the national broadcaster should do this. I hope it endures.
Deadline 2 October 2025.
This is well on its way to being the most-read edition of the Writer’s Bookshelf.
One more share for this. The sea, refugees, flags, and helping the people who are helping.
Wikipedia editors trying to fend off the onslaught of AI crap have crowdsourced some telltale signs of LLM-generated writing; it might be handy for editors and proofreaders generally. Thanks to @ellenrykers.com for pointing me to it. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikiped...
Thank you, Penny!
You might enjoy this too! www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWil...
Well worth bookmarking this for a lunchtime read - or otherwise settling down with a nice cup of tea for a few minutes. It’s an absolute joy.
New on the Writer's Bookshelf this morning: eight questions about writers, books, and reading with the wonderful Victoria Moul. mathewlyons.substack.com/p/the-writer...
I’m looking forward to hearing @questingvole.bsky.social talking at @waterstones.bsky.social Streatham on Wednesday. Tickets here:
Another very specific request (because y’all sorted my last one so quickly!) Are there any war historians on here who would be willing/able to talk to me about what was happening around Caen in the weeks after the D Day landings?
And now I feel a million years old
We watched it last night. 'Alright' covers it pretty well. I don't know the Marlow Murder Club, but better than the Thursday Murder Club – what's with all these murder clubs? Surely not an actual thing – isn't a high bar.
Now watching. Nine tracks from Van c1973. I used to have this on video many moons ago. www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwX0...
I should fess up here and say I've never seen Jaws. Did seeing it at the IMAX change how you thought about Quint?
An amazing actor. I still think his Henry VIII in A Man For All Seasons is the best screen Henry. Such chilling, unpredictable charisma.
Most French dialogue: if this is an interrogation, get the sandwiches sent up
Now watching. Terrific so far
I’m not a poet, but I’ve been invited to read in West London *tonight* Sat 30 August, alongside poets from the IPLA Collective at The Bouda Gallery, 132 Palace Gardens Terrace, London, W8 4RT. Starts 7pm. FREE no booking. Come along!
Do look out for a magnificent contribution from Victoria Moul, coming this Monday!
An old piece tracking the ghosts of Elizabethan London.
Thanks Prog! www.loudersound.com/bands-artist...
It’s not terrible. It’s just slow and pretty lifeless, particularly given the quality of the cast. It might be a better film for a rainy Sunday afternoon than a Friday evening. You can tell that Osman took a lot of care with the plot. Let me know what you think if you watch it!
🎬 You can now watch a free preview of Ancient #Rome featuring Andrew Wallace-Hadrill et al. on our substack! 🔎 Four celebrated historians share intriguing perspectives on daily life in #AncientRome 🗃️ #history #ancientbluesky #classicsbluesky #skystorians ideasroadshow.substack.com/p/ancient-rome
👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻
Far from the worst thing I’ve seen lately - Allelujah or The Children Act spring to mind - but otherwise a dispiriting waste of talent and time.
That’s interesting. I thought the mechanics of the plot were nicely constructed, which suggested a level of care on Osman’s part that wasn’t evident elsewhere in the film. And you could see the spaces where both humour and drama were meant to be.
Just watched the Thursday Murder Club. You can see where it could be fun - and perhaps the book is better - but it only occasionally sputtered into a kind of life. Daniel Mays the pick of the cast, I guess.
Just butting in to say that David Musgrove has written an excellent piece on the hair in King and Conqueror substack.com/home/post/p-...
Boiled eggs have more flavour than poached. Don't ask me how.
"All of this prompts two related questions: how did a rich, Persian-inflected Mughal culture sink such deep roots in today’s India in the first place? And why in recent years has the memory of that culture come under siege?" engelsbergideas.com/essays/india...
I'm a great fan of Peter's writing and his new book will surely be wonderful. I can't wait to read it!
More wonderful guests lined up over the next few weeks include Victoria Moul, Llewelyn Morgan, Alexander Larman and Graeme Richardson. Subscribe here to read them all! mathewlyons.substack.com
thecatholicherald.com/article/thec...
Vague promises made under pressure have a tendency to backfire. I wrote about Britain’s recognition of Palestine and an earlier parallel for @engelsbergideas.bsky.social
Oh, perfect!!
Dazed, Thomas steps out of the wreckage and wonders why the first person he meets is his old friend Will, now calling himself Elizabeth and wearing a dress. He offers Will the one and only E in his name, to help him remember his new identity.
Thomas Nashe didn't die in 1600 but built a time machine powered by red herrings. It broke down in 1625 because one of the herrings had accidentally ingested half a page of something indigestable by Gabriel Harvey.
Toffenetti Restaurant was at 43rd and Broadway in Times Square, seated a thousand people at a time, and was open 24 hours a day. It’s very cool to google and read up on.
My Movie Lover’s Quiz Book is published by @summersdalebooks.bsky.social 2 weeks today! The @foylesforbooks.bsky.social launch quiz (9/9) is nearly sold out & on the Sunday (14/9) I’ll be at the @oldwoollen.bsky.social in Farsley! Busy busy busy 😁.
Love this factoid: Near Millennium Bridge is the street Broken Wharf. The watergate it describes may've been broken since 1209; def from 1590s. There's no record of it ever being fixed. That we're still commemorating a disfunctional quayside seems unreasonable, ludicrous, but somehow wonderful too.
So glad you enjoyed it!
Thank you!
Back on my bullshit (and very pleased to be writing for @the-breakdown.bsky.social).
Thank you, Catherine. I hope they enjoy it too!
You did! 😊😊😊
This is EXACTLY how I feel wandering around the City ❤️
Thank you, Tracey!
Are any pals planning to be in the Dutch Nationaal Archief any time soon? I have two things I'd love to see (no more than a page of manuscript to photograph in each) if anyone's there and has the bandwidth!
An old piece tracking the ghosts of Elizabethan London.
I have a review of Christopher Clark’s A Scandal in Königsberg in The Telegraph this morning www.telegraph.co.uk/books/non-fi...
If you believed the producers of King and Conqueror, you'd think the original source material for the Norman Conquest was virtually nonexistent. In fact it's one of the best-documented events in medieval European history. You can even spin a 400+ page book out of it. www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/k...
What a fun site!
Berkeley Breathed's "Bloom County" loomed so large over my young life that I simply cannot believe its initial run was only eight and a half years. It filled the role that the Gaines/Kurtzman/Feldstein "Mad" magazine played for an earlier generation. A foundational post-post-punk text, imho.
I’m delighted to have a piece on Louis MacNeice’s Autumn Journal in the latest issue of @slightlyfoxed.bsky.social.
And this is 2 weeks on Sunday!
Oh thank you! My parents were friends with his second wife Dora, but if there was any talk of him I don’t remember it
I really must read Emily’s book! Relatedly, what’s good to read on Russell and his (baleful?) influence?
On a beach halfway through this wonderful book and feeling a bit sad I studied philosophy at a university so diminished by Russellian narrow-mindedness that the better part of the discipline was simply omitted. Still, better late than never. Thanks to @emilyherring.bsky.social for opening my eyes.
Watching Fake or Fortune and, as always, delighting in Philip’s acting. His reaction shots are magnificent
🦒 For #mosaicmonday an early Byzantine mosaic of a giraffe & other animals, fruits & vases (?), c.450-550, ⛪ Petra, Jordan Read/watch fascinating details about Byzantine art & culture, here: ideasroadshow.substack.com/p/byzantium-... 🗃️ #arthistory #art #Byzantine #mosaic #medievalsky #culture
Here's the first episode of a free four-part podcast on the Norman Conquest I recorded for @historyextra.bsky.social last year, which they've cannily started posting on YouTube. youtu.be/ZyjNt1pl2e8?...
Wonderful to have you on board, Luke! Loved your answers. So many books I was unaware of. And I really should some Alexander Baron, shouldn’t I?
Really enjoyed doing this Q&A about my reading habits, including why I don’t believe in the concept of guilty pleasures, Derek Jarman, separating the art from the artist re. Roald Dahl & why Patrick O’Brian is the writer I will go back to again and again
Great review! My impression is that Jackson’s book makes most use of James’s own writings. Is that fair? (It’s the only one I have a copy of atm so it’s also the one I’ve looked at most closely.)
This is a splendidly informative review essay from @stephenkb.bsky.social in @ftweekend.com examining 3 new books about the era of James VI & I (2 of which I have read). Now I’m pretty conflicted about Jas given what he did to my forebears (Uncle Ambrose especially, Guido’s ordnance man), but …
#OTD in 1642 Thomas Nash, grandson-in-law of William Shakespeare, made his will. I recently found an original copy of the will in an unlisted box of Chancery deeds, which was very exciting (as you can imagine). [Last bit of #ShamelessSelfPromotion (for a bit), I promise]
Cooling towers are beautiful things. Thought it a real shame that they demolished the ones at Didcot.
Every now and then I ask this. Does anyone remember the name of a 1970s British children’s book (for 8-12yo) in which a girl lives in a house surrounded by Bronze Age barrows? Think like Alan Garner, but not him. Almost definitely a Puffin book.
New on the Writer’s Bookshelf: eight questions about writers, books, and reading with the great @luketurner.bsky.social.
For Anglo-Saxons and Normans, you can’t go wrong with Marc Morris’ books — they’re very readable and he’s really good at explaining the politics If you’d like to know more about the Vikings, I recommend the most recent books by Neil Price and Eleanor Barraclough
You can and, when you have to, you will. Platitudes, I know… I don’t know you well, but I’ve known you a long time. John likewise. I don’t have his gift for blessings, but sending what care I can. I’m a bit concerned. Look after yourself, ok?
Funnily enough, the film I had in mind re hokum was the Errol Flynn Robin Hood.
Grief is a monster. Take it a day at a time, an hour at a time if need be. You don't need to have a plan. You just have to do whatever you need to do to get by. Eventually you make your peace with it and take a kind of comfort from its presence. Hang in there. You'll find your path. You'll be ok.
In some ways I think we were all better off when no-one affected to care about historical accuracy. I love hokum, but hokum with aspirations to integrity is insufferable.
"Apart from the names of the main characters – and some of these have been changed – there’s nothing here that is even vaguely correct."
Honestly, any way that you find works for you is ok. Whatever gets you through the night, etc. And no worries. I know when I've been going through things in the past, people have been tolerant and generous, so I try to pass that on a bit. Take care of yourself.
Hope today is brighter than yesterday.
Thank you to @theobserveruk.bsky.social for giving attention today to the campaign for independent access to the BBC Written Archives. The Corporation is still yet to engage with our argument and properly defend the policy shift. That is because it is indefensible. observer.co.uk/news/nationa...
Surely Jeeves, in the one story he narrates, is more trustworthy?
The BBC’s online news output has become so strange and alien to the purpose of the BBC in recent years that I can only think they are planning to sell it off somehow.
I’ve heard good things about this!
Sorry to hear things are grim, Siobhan. I don’t have any podcast recommendations, I’m afraid. But I’m sure you will find respite in time, and beyond that better things. John used to have wise and gentle things to say at this point of the evening. Sending you all the thoughts he articulated so well.
Fabulous review of A History of England in 25 Poems in The Times this morning!
I don’t suppose I know anyone in the #letterpress #printmaker communities who has a spare Adana 8x5 chase they’d be willing to part with in exchange for a reasonable amount of ££? (Shares appreciated.)