CLOSING TIME AT THE ROYAL OAK: Richie McCaffery admires the way that John Lucas has embedded perceptive social observation in a history of his local pub
history
The Florentines: From Dante to Galileo. By Paul Strathern, Published April 1, Atlantic Books. Review by Barbara Lewis.
The Rome Plague Diaries, Lockdown Life in the Eternal City: In times when many of us have been wondering why we didn’t get ourselves stranded near a Caribbean beach, Matthew Kneale decided there was nowhere on the planet he would rather be locked down than where he was in his adoptive city of Rome.
Post-Virus Venice: More than looks. Venice is, to a majority of us, one of humanity’s most seductive achievements.
Book review – THE PRISONER’S WIFE: this remarkable novel by Maggie Brookes is based on a true story and tells of an almost incredible deception successfully carried out during World War Two
Poetry review – LET BATTLE COMMENCE: Norbert Hirschhorn reflects on Wendy Klein’s use of letters by one of her ancestors to make a poetic memoir of the American Civil War.
Poetry Review – RARE BIRDS: Angela Topping is moved and impressed by Natalie Scott’s poems about a women’s prison
In more ordinary times, Simon Procter is a British fashion photographer, who has worked with Karl Lagerfeld and John Galliano.
Poetry review – The Unreturning: P W Bridgman salutes Martin Malone’s poetic counter-attack on certain received ideas about the Great War
The risk for any exhibition at Two Temple Place – a glorious late Victorian mansion at Temple, central London – is that the wood carving and stained-glass beauty of the building will steal the show.
Poetry Review – Jim Neat: Stuart Henson appreciates the challenges of constructing fact-based poetry such as Mary J Oliver’s biography of her father
Poetry review – RECALLING LONDON EAST: John Forth admires the plain speaking in this collection of reminiscent poetry by Pat Francis
By Michael Bartholomew-Biggs • books, history, poetry reviews, year 2021 • Tags: books, history, John Forth, poetry