Archive for the ‘Literature’ category

Lincoln’s Constitution by Daniel A. Farber: Book review

August 2nd, 2010

Lincoln's ConstitutionLincoln’s Constitution by Daniel A. Farber

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Excellent and thoroughly researched review of the issues surrounding Lincoln’s presidency, specifically how the Constitutionality of his decisions could be viewed during and since his time in office. Farber clearly understands his topic, providing both ample detail and excellent additional references to both primary and secondary sources. Finally, he makes this potentially very dry subject palatable through clear and concise prose.

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Historians locate King Arthurs Round Table – Telegraph

July 13th, 2010

The search is over! According to the UK newspaper The Telegraph, Historians locate King Arthurs Round Table. Very exciting! Now, how long before they make yet another Hollywood movie about Arthur? After Boorman’s Excalibur (1981) and Fuqua’s King Arthur (2004), it’s time for another spin…

Welcome to Woruldhord

July 10th, 2010

Dr. Stuart Lee at the Oxford Computing Services department, has begun a new website, Woruldhord (Old English for World-hoard),

to collect together into an online hoard, digital objects related to the teaching, study, or research of Old English and the Anglo-Saxon period of history.

What a wonderful way to collect and revel in Old English material, even (especially?) if it’s not part of your daily life any more.

Looks like Dr. Lee created other websites, one a digital archive for World War I poetry and another, Dragons in the Sky, for “English-Speaking Communities at the Close of the Millennia” (although it hasn’t been updated recently — the July 2006 article by Dr Catherine Clarke, “Compensation Culture,” is still marked “New”).

Source: medievalists.net post (http://www.medievalists.net/2010/07/05/public-asked-to-help-created-world’s-largest-archive-on-anglo-saxon-england/)

‘Camelot’ Rolls into Ireland’s Ardmore Studios | The Irish Film & Television Network

July 10th, 2010

Woohoo! Filming has begun on the new 10-part tv miniseries based on Malory’s Morte dArthur: ‘Camelot’ Rolls into Ireland’s Ardmore Studios | The Irish Film & Television Network. King and Queen have been cast, along with several other major players. It has the potential to be very cheesy, but hopefully will avoid the most obvious glitzy traps of recent movies and shows. Keep your fingers crossed!

Timelines: sources from history from the British Library

February 5th, 2010
BL Timelines screenshot

BL Timelines screenshot

The British Library has released a new website, Timelines: sources from history, where users can traverse history “from Magna Carta to Obama.” From to the website:

The interactive timeline allows you to explore British Library collection items chronologically, from medieval times to the present day. It includes a diverse combination of texts: those that allow glimpses of everyday life (handbills, posters, letters, diaries), remnants of political events (charters, speeches, campaign leaflets), and the writings of some of our best known historical and literary figures.

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