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A Shakespearean Motley is a delightful cabinet of Shakespearean curiosities, arranged in a straightforward alphabetical order, that will inform, enthuse, intrigue and amuse anyone who would like to know more about the richly varied and versatile life and work of the world's best-known author. Drawing unusual connections, this ingenious guide will show you what Hamlet's Ophelia has to do with The Tempest, Twelfth Night and Ships; how a stage direction speaks to Elizabethan treatment of bears. With entries ranging from Apothecary to Zephyr, Bee to Yorick, this succinct but stimulating book is full of captivating details illuminating all corners of Shakespeare's world.

Roy Strong has written an exemplary introduction to the history of Britain, as first designated by the Romans. It is a brilliant and balanced account of successive ages bound together by a compelling narrative which answers the questions: ‘Where do we come from?’ and ‘Where are we going?’

Beginning with the earliest recorded Celtic times, and ending with the present day of Brexit Britain, it is a remarkable achievement. With his passion, enthusiasm and wide-ranging knowledge, he is the ideal narrator. His book should be read by anyone, anywhere, who cares about Britain’s national past, national identity and national prospects.

The Wars of the Roses were not just fought by men on the battlefield. Behind the scenes, there were daughters, wives, mistresses, mothers and queens whose lives and influences helped shape the most dramatic of English conflicts. This book traces the story of women on the Lancastrian side, from the children borne by Blanche, wife of John of Gaunt, through the turbulent fifteenth century to the advent of Margaret Beaufort’s son in 1485 and the establishment of the Tudor dynasty. From the secret liaisons of Katherine Swynford and Catherine of Valois to the love lives of Mary de Bohun and Jacquetta of Luxembourg, to the queenship of Joan of Navarre and Margaret of Anjou, this book explores their experiences as women. What bound them to their cause? What real influence did they wield? Faced with the dangers of treason and capture, defamation and childbirth, read how these extraordinary women survived in extraordinary times.

Underholdende. Særlig skildringene fra universitetet er lattervekkende. Kriminalhistorien er helt grei.

Hver setning, avsnitt og side i denne boka kunne vært trukket fram og sitert. Strout skriver innsiktsfullt og forteller en sår historie. Jeg tror jeg kan komme til å lese den på nytt.

Faldbakken har ikke vært bedre siden Macht und Rebel, synes jeg. Kanskje den beste bygdeskildring møter kunstig intelligens ispedd litt amfetaminrus-romanen noensinne?

Long-listed for the HWA Non-Fiction Crown 2017

James, Duke of Monmouth, the adored illegitimate son of Charles II, was born in exile the year his grandfather was executed and the English monarchy abolished. Abducted from his mother on his father's orders, he emerged from a childhood in the backstreets of Rotterdam to command the ballrooms of Paris, the brothels of Covent Garden and the battlefields of Flanders. Pepys described him as 'the most skittish, leaping gallant that ever I saw, always in action, vaulting or leaping or clambering'.
Such was his appeal that when the monarchy itself came under threat, the cry was for Monmouth to succeed Charles II as King. He inspired both delight and disgust, adulation and abhorrence and, in time, love and loyalty almost beyond fathoming. Louis XIV was his mentor, Nell Gwyn his protector, D'Artagnan his lieutenant, William of Orange his confidant, John Dryden his censor and John Locke his comrade.

Anna Keay matches rigorous scholarship with a storyteller's gift to enrapturing effect. She brings to life the warm, courageous and handsome Duke of Monmouth, a man who by his own admission 'lived a very dissolute and irregular life', but who was ultimately prepared to risk everything for honour and justice. His life, culminating in his fateful invasion, provides a sweeping history of the turbulent decades in which England as we know it was forged.

Den svakeste romanen Dag Solstad har skrevet? Jeg gledet meg stort til å lese denne. Tredje, og siste, roman om Bjørn Hansen er tynn suppe på flere måter. Tynn som i veldig kort. Tynn som i totalt sett et godt stykke unna den vanlige Solstadske litterære kvaliteten (dog med noen fine setninger innimellom). Solstad gjør her hovedsakelig et forsøk på meta-litteratur ved å kommenterer deler av sitt eget forfatterskap (jf. de to tidligere bøkene om Bjørn Hansen), før han avslutningsvis gjør et særdeles halvhjertet forsøk på samtidsanalyse (metoo). Anbefaler for øvrig Morgenbladets podcast med litteraturkritiker Bernhard Ellefsen om denne boka.

Skuffet etter å ha lest Svøm med dem som drukner, som er atskillig bedre. Det som trekker ned er det litt for høystemte språket, litt for mange klisjéer i beskrivelsen av kjærlighetsforholdet og gjengivelsene av Norges kvaliteter "sett utenfra". Boka har også noen gode kvaliteter, jeg likte særlig skildringen av bygdelivet.

Omriss av Rachel Cusk er lettlest og forglemmelig. Kanskje fin å ha med seg på stranda? Flyten er der, men hovedpersonens mange møter presenteres på en i mine øyne for kort og overfladisk måte. Alt raser avgårde. Jeg savner mer dybde. Noe smårusk med tegnsetting og språk.

A genius and prophet whose timeless works encapsulate the human condition like no others. A writer who surpassed his contemporaries in vision, originality and literary mastery. Who wrote like an angel, putting it all so much better than anyone else.

Is this Shakespeare? Well, sort of.

But it doesn't really tell us the whole truth. So much of what we say about Shakespeare is either not true, or just not relevant, deflecting us from investigating the challenges of his inconsistencies and flaws. This electrifying new book thrives on revealing, not resolving, the ambiguities of Shakespeare's plays and their changing topicality. It introduces an intellectually, theatrically and ethically exciting writer who engages with intersectionality as much as with Ovid, with economics as much as poetry: who writes in strikingly modern ways about individual agency, privacy, politics, celebrity and sex. It takes us into a world of politicking and copy-catting, as we watch him emulating the blockbusters of Christopher Marlowe and Thomas Kyd, the Spielberg and Tarantino of their day; flirting with and skirting round the cut-throat issues of succession politics, religious upheaval and technological change. The Shakespeare in this book poses awkward questions rather than offering bland answers, always implicating us in working out what it might mean.

This is Shakespeare. And he needs your attention.