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Nottingham alabaster: objects of strangeness, mystery and devotion
How the English Reformation tried to obliterate a unique medieval artform
Jan 30, 2025
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Mathew Lyons
50
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Microhistories #12: revolution on the radio
How an early BBC news hoax terrified the nation
7 hrs ago
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Mathew Lyons
1
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Interview: Tiffany Jenkins
How ideas about private and public life have evolved since the Reformation
Jan 14
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Mathew Lyons
15
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The writer's bookshelf: Victoria Moul
Sep 1, 2025
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Mathew Lyons
101
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Re-imagining Elizabethan London
Aug 28, 2025
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Mathew Lyons
88
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History in plain sight: four Anglo-Saxon churches to visit
May 23, 2025
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Mathew Lyons
67
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Nagasaki 1945
Aug 6, 2025
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Mathew Lyons
61
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The Midnight Folk: memory, magic, and consolation
Nov 20, 2025
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Mathew Lyons
60
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12
Twelve books to look out for in August
Aug 8, 2025
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Mathew Lyons
55
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The fall of the Duke of Norfolk
Come at the Queen, you best not miss…
Jan 8
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Mathew Lyons
19
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The writer's bookshelf: Keith Lowe
Eight questions about writers, books, and reading…
Jan 5
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Mathew Lyons
26
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The writer's bookshelf: Sarah Gristwood
Eight questions about writers, books, and reading…
Dec 22, 2025
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Mathew Lyons
17
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Merry Christmas from the Broken Compass
A round-up of everything I've written over the last twelve months
Dec 19, 2025
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Mathew Lyons
34
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Review: Holbein by Elizabeth Goldring
The definitive scholarly biography of a Renaissance master
Dec 17, 2025
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Mathew Lyons
41
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The writer's bookshelf: Gerry Cambridge
Eight questions about writers, books, and reading…
Dec 15, 2025
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Mathew Lyons
30
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Beyond The Jungle Book: Kipling, Orwell, Rushdie and me
What Kipling's critics get wrong about his writing
Dec 12, 2025
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Mathew Lyons
55
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Review: Mexico: A 500-Year History by Paul Gillingham
A masterful account of one of the world's most complex and storied nations
Dec 10, 2025
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Mathew Lyons
16
5
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The writer's bookshelf: Francesca Peacock
Eight questions about writers, books, and reading…
Dec 8, 2025
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Mathew Lyons
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The Broken Compass
History, books & wonder
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Recommendations
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Scraps, Orts and Fragments
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Drinking Culture
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Feasts and Festivals
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