On the eve of the centenary of the Somme, and to continue this week’s First World War theme, I present Field Hospital and Flying Column, Violetta Thurstan’s account of her experiences as a Red Cross nurse across a First World War-torn Europe. Thurstan was born in East Sussex in 1879, educated in Germany and trained…
Month: June 2016
Scars Upon My Heart – Women’s Poetry and Verse of the First World War, selected by Catherine Reilly
One might legitimately view war at the time of The Great War as a largely masculine endeavour – started by male politicians in parliament, fought by male civilians in the trenches. The poems of Wilfred Owen et al which emerged from the trenches are justifiably famous examples of (some) men seeking to make sense of…
Journey’s End by R.C. Sherriff
To continue this week’s First World War theme in the run up to the centenary of the Somme on 1 July, a 1928 play which brings to life the most evocative of First World War images – the trenches. Journey’s End is set in the British trenches near Saint-Quentin, Aisne, in 1918, as officers prepare…
War In European History by Michael Howard
On July 1st 2016 we will commemorate the 100-year anniversary of the start of the bloodiest battle in human history, the 141-day Battle of the Somme that claimed 1 million lives. Therefore, this week at Brontë’s Page Turners we will be looking at a range of books that get under the skin of the trauma…
England’s Queens by Elizabeth Norton
It’s finally the end of Monarchy Week at Brontë’s Page Turners. Yes, I know it was the official ‘do’ on Saturday but I am always the last to leave the party. Liz won’t mind. She’s still coming down from the high that Saturday’s fluorescent green outfit induced, and was last seen running up the Long…
Elizabeth The Great by Elizabeth Jenkins
We are almost at the end of ‘Monarchy Week’, having wished Elizabeth II a very happy birthday yesterday (I for one loved that bright green outfit – nothing says ‘I’m not dead yet, Charles’ as well as fluorescent green). Before we sign off, here’s a book about that first Queenly Liz. As a 9 year…
The Madness of George III by Alan Bennett
Continuing the ‘Monarchy Week’ theme on the eve of the Queen’s official birthday, a play by His Theatrical Magnificence Alan Bennett that demonstrates the perils of putting all your constitutional eggs in the one royal basket, what with Royals actually being fallible human beings prone to the same weaknesses as you and me. The Madness…
Bittersweet Within My Heart: The Collected Poems of Mary, Queen of Scots
Today as part of ‘Monarchy Week’ (a theme I’ve invented to cash in on the Queen’s official birthday on Saturday, as an excuse to blog about more books. She’s been cashing in on me for years, so this all feels legitimate) a collection of poems that reminds us that THE ROYALS HAVE FEELINGS AS WELL,…
The Queen In Hell Close by Sue Townsend
Yesterday’s ‘Monarchy week’ post as part of the run up to the Queen’s official birthday on Saturday focused on the exalted position of the Queenly one. But what if it all came crashing down and the Queen & co had to rough it with the common people? The Queen in Hell Close, part of the…
The Queen: Art and Image (National Portrait Gallery)
Next up in ‘Monarchy Week’ at Brontë’s Page Turners, a book that explores what it means if yesterday’s ‘long and winding road’ of ancestry makes you (essentially) the most recognizable face in the world. The Queen: Art and Image tracks the changing representation of the Queen’s image in art over the course of her 63-year…
Britain’s Royal Families – The Complete Genealogy by Alison Weir
In the run up to the Queen’s ‘official’ birthday on Saturday 11th June, I thought it would be corgi-tastic to have a Monarchy-themed week on Brontë’s Page Turners. Our Lilibet (or ‘Cabbage’ as the Duke of Edinburgh calls her…pervert) is, after all, the first British Monarch to reach 90, which is quite spectacular given all…
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