Category Archives: England

Tudors: The History of England from Henry VIII to Elizabeth I

Here’s the conclusion of this 2014 book by Peter Ackroyd: * The reformation of the English Church was, from the beginning, a political and dynastic matter; it had no roots in popular protest or the principles of humanist reform. No … Continue reading

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Tudors: The History of England from Henry VIII to Elizabeth 1

Peter Ackroyd writes in this 2015 book: * There was in any case no sense of privacy in the sixteenth-century world; men commonly shared beds, and princes dined in public. The individuals of every community were under endless scrutiny from … Continue reading

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Cut-price coronation: Why King Charles shouldn’t modernise the monarchy

From the Sydney Morning Herald: * The British monarchy, like every other monarchy, lives or dies on its respect for tradition – that handing down of customs from generation to generation. By snubbing process and protocol in petty ways, the … Continue reading

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Off His Royal Tits

Andrew O’Hagen writes: Penguins​ are super-parents. When the female provides dinner she doesn’t just reach for the pesto but launches herself into the treacherous, icy depths, returning with a stomach full of half-digested fish to be spewed down the gullet … Continue reading

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Hobbes: A Biography

A.P. Martinich writes in this 1999 book: * no matter how stupid and weak a person may be, he still has enough wit and strength to kill another person, no matter how smart and strong. “If we consider…with how great … Continue reading

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