‘The Time-Traveller’s Guide to Medieval England’ by Ian Mortimer

Life of a PhD student is not easy and even when your research is connected to literature, there is very little time for pleasure reading. For me it has been a struggle to find a balance between what I have to read and what I want to read. Unfortunately, they are not always the same things.

I have just managed to finish this little and extremely enjoyable book by Ian Mortimer. I am a frustrated historian and I simply loved the way the author transport us to medieval England creating the atmosphere and the settings with colourful descriptions of places and people. Better than the Time Machine Wells invented.

Mortimer, I. (2009) The Time-Traveller’s Guide to Medieval England. London: Vintage

 

In the beginning was the Word…

At the end of his book on the history of the King James Version (KJV) of the Bible, Prof. Campbell says that the importance of the book does not lie as much ‘on the inception and execution of this particular translation’ but in its long history as a religious text at the centre of our English-speaking culture.

Even for a person like me, without a particular religious affiliation, the KJV is still at the heart of all the images and notions that I have of  the force that creates and guides us and it strongly informs my notions of ethics and moral. Literary speaking, its importance is second to none. Only Shakespeare can compete with the word of God

I’m really lucky to have had the opportunity to attend Prof. Campbell talk last week and reading his book was a real  delight.

Campbell, G. (2010) Bible. The Story of the King James Version. Oxford: Oxford University Press.