The Marlowe Papers

To be honest I’m pretty sure that The Marlowe Papers by Ros Barber is the most confusing book that I have ever read; admittedly I probably should have guessed that it would be confusing as the entire book is written in a series of poems. But I thought that it’d be fine as I’m taking English as well as history, but as it turns out I’m not very good at Shakespearian English.

The plot of the book is what made me decide to read the book, and once you decipher the poetry and understand the plot, the book is quite interesting. The book is about Christopher Marley, who later becomes Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare, throughout his life as he becomes famous under his own name, becomes an intelligence agent for Sir Francis Walsingham before being stabbed in a fight. Up until this point the book sticks to well accepted historical facts about Christopher Marlowe, but the book explores the idea that Marlowe did not die but instead escaped to France to continue his intelligence work, and write plays in his spare time. As it turns out intelligence work is actually quite boring as the majority of the book seems to be taken up by him sitting in French pubs, complaining about his life or being arrested for different things (you would have thought that being arrested for heresy would be more interesting).

Overall my main problem with the book was that it was almost impossible to tell what was going on, as it gives you no warning about the beginning of different flashbacks (or one of the main characters frankly disturbing dreams). What makes this worse is that these flash backs are not always in chronological order so it’s fairly difficult to understand the series of events that lead to his “death”. Another issue I had was with telling many of the characters apart, because everyone in the book seemed to be called Thomas, and it was only because of the character list at the front that I could tell them apart.

I my opinion the book is very confusing and I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone who is not willing to spend a large amount of time translating the poetry into something understandable, but if you are willing to spend some time on the book, the plot is an interesting idea and the characters can be fairly funny at times, but I’d have probably enjoyed the book more without the poetry.

JT

Sashenka

The presentation of Stalin as a person in ‘Sashenka’ contrasts with that of the Soviet scheme and system of fear that he ran to portray the common view of the dictator according to the view of contemporary public in the USSR.

The terror of the 1930s under Soviet control is never attributed directly to Stalin himself in the novel, in the same way that he would not have been openly blamed by citizens of the USSR at the time, for fear of suffering the same ordeal that they were associating him with. This suppression through fear is also presented through Sashenka’s job editing a Soviet magazine, which produces propaganda in support of the political system, and censoring any writing portraying it honestly. When she is presented with an article highlighting the negative aspects of a Soviet orphanage she explains that ‘the Party Committee would denounce’ the author and send them to a Gulag – one of the labor camps run under Stalin where ‘enemies of the people’ would be sent and forced to work tirelessly, tortured and often killed. In spite of the brutality applied through Stalinism Sashenka believes that ‘Comrade Stalin knows’ that she is innocent and maintains her devoted admiration and reverence of him throughout her suffering in the prison at the hands of his workers.

Stalin’s image was seen as incorruptible and his reputation as a good leader undoubtable from within the Communist party and Sashenka’s genuine belief in his virtue despite the knowledge of what was happening to innocent people under his instruction emphasises the extent to which his authoritarianism stretched, not just preventing people from voicing their negative opinions against Stalin, but indoctrinating them to convince them that his system was just. This conditioning influence did not end entirely after his death, or even the breakdown of the USSR as the final section of the novel, set in 1994, shows people still wary to investigate and expose the faults of Stalinism.

Contrary to the cruelness of his regime, Stalin is presented as personable and charming face-to-face. His likeable personality contradicts the inhumanity of his policies to create an enigmatic and intimidating leading figure who cannot be challenged, incorporating a political concept as well as an affable individual as a respectable figurehead of the Soviet system and for Communism.

MF

Summer Reading 2014

The Summer Holidays are nearly here so there may be a little time over the next few weeks for some summer reading. We have created some specific reading lists on Historical Fiction which you may find of interest. They are not complete, and need your input! If you have read any great books on any period of history, please let us know, and we will include them. Here are the current pages...

Historical Fiction: Key Stage 3
20th Century Historical Fiction: Years 9-11
Sixth Form Historical Fiction: Wars of the Roses and the Tudors

If you are in the Sixth Form and considering History at University, here are a few ideas...

David Aaronovitch of The Times has helpfully made some recommendations, which include "The Ascent of Money" by Niall Ferguson, which looks at the global history of finance and "The Birth of the Modern World 1788-1800" by Jay Winik, which considers the connections between the momentous political events of the late 18th Century. Both books would obviously provide helpful parallels with our current political and economic problems.

Tudor Historians may find "Mary Tudor:England's First Queen" of interest as it takes quite a sympathetic view of her and David Starkey's "Henry-The Virtuous Prince" looks closely at the often neglected early years of Henry VIII's life. Here is a further selection of Tudor History books and here is a guide from tudorhistory.org to useful authors.



EH Carr's "What is History" is the classic introduction to the nature of the subject and some ideas of historiography. Although it was published 48 years ago, it still contains many stimulating ideas to get the historian thinking. Other books that follow similar ideas, often written in response to Carr, include Geoffrey Elton's "The Practice of History, Richard Evans' "In Defence of History" and John Tosh's "The Pursuit of History". More information about these ideas can be seen at the Institute of History's special section on "What is History" here and in the Open University's website here.

If you are looking for further inspiration on what to read, check the "History Reviews" sections of the newspapers. Here are links to the The Guardian'sand The Telegraph's history books sections. The Institute of Historical Research also has an extensive Reviews Section

The Amazon.com history section of course has a vast range of books and is worth checking for the latest to be published.

Please pass on any recommendations for books you have enjoyed, and happy reading!

PS: Here is a list of books and articles recommended for old AEA course (for A Level Students who wanted to stretch themselves further) which are worth considering.

Hilary Mantel wins the Booker Prize...again

Hilary Mantel won the Booker Prize last night with "Bring up the Bodies", her sequel to "Wolf Hall" which itself won the prize three years ago. Both books cover the life of Thomas Cromwell, Henry VIII's Chief Minister, with the second installment covering the events in 1535 that led to the execution of Anne Boleyn.  It is an exciting time for historical fiction, and will hopefully lead to more readers being introduced to Tudor History through her work. Mantel is planning a 3rd book, "The Mirror and the Light" and "Wolf Hall" is being adapted for television and will be shown on the BBC next year.

You can read more about Mantel and her analysis of Cromwell here, a review of Bring up the Bodies here, and an article by Mantel about Anne Boleyn here.

Mao's Famine

On Wednesday the Samuel Johnson Prize, awarded to what is considered to be the best non-fiction book of the year, went to "Mao's Great Famine" by Frank Dikotter. The book explores how up to 45 million people died of hunger between 1958 and 1962 due to the terrible economic mismanagement of the country following Mao's "Great Leap Forward" programme. Dikotter blames Mao personally for this, believing he had little interest in saving the lives of his countrymen. He is quoted as saying, "it is better to let half of the people die so that the other half can eat their fill." Dikotter has been able to use a Chinese archives not previously accessed by historians to piece together this tragedy. One of the judges said, "This book changed my life - I think differently about the 20th century than I did before...We feel we know who the villains of the 20th century are – Stalin and Hitler. But here, fully 50 years after the event, is something we did not know about. It's a testament to the power of non-fiction, that it can rock you back on your heels."

You can read a review of the book here, and more about the Samuel Johnson Prize here, which was also featured on last night's Culture Show on BBC2.

PS: Here is a list of the previous Samuel Johnson prize winners for those looking for holiday reading (especially personal statement writers!)

2010 Nothing to Envy: Real Lives in North Korea Barbara Demick
2009 Leviathan, or the Whale Philip Hoare
2008 The Suspicions of Mr Whicher Kate Summerscale
2007 Imperial Life in the Emerald City Rajiv Chandrasekaran
2006 1599: A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare James Shapiro
2005 Like a Fiery Elephant Jonathan Coe
2004 Stasiland Anna Funder
2003 Pushkin: A biography T.J. Binyon
2002 Peacemakers: The Paris Peace Conference of 1919 Margaret Macmillan
2001 The Third Reich: A New History Michael Burleigh
2000 Berlioz: Servitude and Greatness David Cairns
1999 Stalingrad Antony Beevor

100 Greatest Non-Fiction Books

The Guardian has produced a list of what it considers to be the 100 greatest non-fiction books. Lists like this are always going to be subjective, but it is interesting how many historical and political books have made it on to the list, with 11 and 13 books respectively, compared with only one for Mathematics and five for science. This suggests that either the subjects of History and Politics lend themselves more naturally to books that can be considered great literature, or that those consulted for the article were somewhat biased in their favour. What do you think?

Here are the choices (Click for more details here)

History
The Histories (Herodotus: c400 BC)
The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (Edward Gibbon: 1776)
The History of England (Thomas Babington Macaulay: 1848)
Eichmann in Jerusalem (Hannah Arendt: 1963)
The Making of the English Working Class (EP Thompson: 1963)
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee (Dee Brown: 1970)
Hard Times: an Oral History of the Great Depression (Studs Terkel: 1970)
Shah of Shahs (Ryszard Kapuściński: 1982)
The Age of Extremes: A History of the World, 1914-1991 (Eric Hobsbawm: 1994)
We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Familes (Philip Gourevitch: 1999)
Postwar (Tony Judt: 2005)

Politics
The Art of War (Sun Tzu: c500 BC)
The Prince (Niccolò Machiavelli: 1532)
Leviathan (Thomas Hobbes: 1651)
The Rights of Man (Thomas Paine: 1791)
A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (Mary Wollstonecraft: 1792)
The Communist Manifesto (Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels: 1848)
The Souls of Black Folk (WEB DuBois: 1903)
The Second Sex (Simone de Beauvoir: 1949)
The Wretched of the Earth (Franz Fanon: 1961)
The Medium is the Massage (Marshall McLuhan: 1967)
The Female Eunuch (Germaine Greer: 1970)
Manufacturing Consent (Noam Chomsky and Edward Herman: 1988)
Here Comes Everybody (Clay Shirky: 2008)

Sutton Bookshare

Sutton Borough Council has just announced an interesting new scheme to encourage people to share their books with each other. People who sign up can search for books they find interesting, and then make contact with the owner to borrow the book for a convenient length of time. The council considers this to be a "world first" and hopes it will encourage a greater sense of community and interest in books. Others, as shown in this Guardian article, are concerned that this could be used as an excuse to make cuts to library services - the Council has already stated its intention to make savings, mainly in reduction of opening hours rather than closing the libraries themselves.

You can access the scheme here. Let us know if you find any interesting books!

Summer reading

On the subject of summer reading... here is an interview with Peter Hennessy about the recent release of his updated version of 'The Secret State: Preparing for the Worst 1945-2010'. It is a great interview with Hennessy who gives a glimpse of his thorough research and analysis together with some great anecdotes. The book is well worth considering for a summer read particularly if you are looking for an issue to mention in your personal statement and you are interested in the Cold War.
Add any books you have found that might be worth a read...

Summer Reading

NOTE: This has been adapted and updated from an article that was first published last year and gives you a few ideas to get started on what books to read if you are considering history at university.

For people with UCAS and university interviews on their mind, Summer is a good time to find inspiration by reading some history books.

David Aaronovitch of The Times has helpfully made some recommendations, which include "The Ascent of Money" by Niall Ferguson, which looks at the global history of finance and "The Birth of the Modern World 1788-1800" by Jay Winik, which considers the connections between the momentous political events of the late 18th Century. Both books would obviously provide helpful parallels with our current political and economic problems.

Tudor Historians may find "Mary Tudor:England's First Queen" of interest as it takes quite a sympathetic view of her and David Starkey's "Henry-The Virtuous Prince" looks closely at the often neglected early years of Henry VIII's life. Here is a further selection of Tudor History books and here is a guide from tudorhistory.org to useful authors.



EH Carr's "What is History" is the classic introduction to the nature of the subject and some ideas of historiography. Although it was published 48 years ago, it still contains many stimulating ideas to get the historian thinking. Other books that follow similar ideas, often written in response to Carr, include Geoffrey Elton's "The Practice of History, Richard Evans' "In Defence of History" and John Tosh's "The Pursuit of History". More information about these ideas can be seen at the Institute of History's special section on "What is History" here and in the Open University's website here.

If you are looking for further inspiration on what to read, check the "History Reviews" sections of the newspapers. Here is a links to the The Guardian'sand The Telegraph's history books secions. The Institute of Historical Research also has an extensive Reviews Section

The Amazon.com history section of course has a vast range of books and is worth checking for the latest to be published.

Please pass on any recommendations for books you have enjoyed, and happy reading!

PS: Here is a list of books and articles recommended for old AEA course (for A Level Students who wanted to stretch themselves further) which are worth considering.

Google Books

You can now embed Google Books into blog posts, which may be really helpful for interesting articles and quotes that people find. Have a play around and please let us know your comments, or any books that you would recommend posting here.

PS: They also do magazines, such as this American edition of Popular Mechanics from November 1939. War may have been declared in Europe but this magazine at least seems very optimistic about the future...

Christmas History Reading

If you are thinking of doing some wider reading over Christmas, or have been asked what you want in your stocking, you may find inspiration at these websites. The Guardian and Telegraph History books sections have excellent reviews, often by historians, and give you a good idea of what is currently being published. Amazon.com of course has a vast range of books and you can see a few of them here.

Here is a specific selection of Tudor History books and here is a guide from tudorhistory.org to useful authors.

PS: On a similar subject, please note our new link to the Nonsuch English Blog on the right hand side of this page.

Elizabeth FAQ

Here is a useful set of FAQs on Elizabeth I, including a list of all the errors (and there are many!) made in the Cate Blanchett film. The website also contains a useful Tudor reading list alongside lots of other Elizabeth info.

Summer reading for politicians

The reading list given to the Shadow Foreign Affairs team is listed here along with suggestions from other politicians and features History and Politics strongly. A predictable list perhaps, with Churchill, Macmillan and Alan Clark featuring but also some less expected such as Keynes: The Return of the Master. Vernon Bogdanor's book should be well worth a read as should Douglas Alexander's choice of Timothy Garton Ash's Facts are subversive.

Politics and Literature

Can politics and literature go together? Can political issues be explored through fiction? This article from The Guardian explores these issues further, considering authors as diverse as Charles Dickens, Ernest Hemingway and David Hare.

Summer History Reading

For people with UCAS and university interviews on their mind, Summer is a good time to find inspiration by reading some history books.

David Aaronovitch of The Times has helpfully made some recommendations, which include "The Ascent of Money" by Niall Ferguson, which looks at the global history of finance and "The Birth of the Modern World 1788-1800" by Jay Winik, which considers the connections between the momentous political events of the late 18th Century. Both books would obviously provide helpful parallels with our current political and economic problems.

Tudor Historians may find "Mary Tudor:England's First Queen" of interest as it takes quite a sympathetic view of her and David Starkey's "Henry-The Virtuous Prince" looks closely at the often neglected early years of Henry VIII's life.



EH Carr's "What is History" is the classic introduction to the nature of the subject and some ideas of historiography. Although it was published 48 years ago, it still contains many stimulating ideas to get the historian thinking. Other books that follow similar ideas, often written in response to Carr, include Geoffrey Elton's "The Practice of History, Richard Evans' "In Defence of History" and John Tosh's "The Pursuit of History". More information about these ideas can be seen at the Institute of History's special section on "What is History" here and in the Open University's website here.

If you are looking for further inspiration on what to read, check the "History Reviews" sections of the newspapers. Here is a links to the The Guardian'sand The Telegraph's history books secions. The Institute of Historical Research also has an extensive Reviews Section

Please pass on any recommendations for books you have enjoyed, and happy reading!

What are you reading?

The summer holidays are fast approaching, which give a chance for everyone (including Nonsuch HP) to catch up on their reading. Many will also be considering what to put on their UCAS Personal Statements so we would like to ask 2 questions:
What are people reading at the moment?
What history or politics books could they recommend?

Please add comments!! Anonymous answers will be accepted!