The Tragedy of Queen Caroline
Queen Caroline was custom-made for the finest caricaturists who ever lived. Her husband, King George IV, decided to charge her with adultery shortly after becoming king in January 1820. The…
He knows everything in the world about Milton!
My headline is taken from a novel by Virginia Woolf (pictured here). In Mrs Dalloway (1925), the character named in the title is “someone who can’t understand the pleasures of…
KING JAMES I: Love & Politics
With the publication of 2 new books, the avid bookhound now has the opportunity of reading nearly 1,000 pages about King James I of England. First under review here is…
The English Were Mathematically Obsessed
Image: John Collins (1625-1683) While some Continental advances in mathematics are covered, this book is largely about the practice of mathematics in Great Britain. By the late 18th and early…
THE CHOICEST GIFT OF HEAVEN and The 250th Birthday of Jane Austen
December 16 marked the 250th birthday of Jane Austen. This is the third article published in Sun News Austen to commemorate the event (see below) Professor Janet Todd (Univ. of…
The Noble Rot: Not as Rotten as It Sounds
On a drizzly October evening, I slipped into Noble Rot Soho with a friend I was visiting in London. He told me he had a surprise for me. The mystery…
From Bricklayer to Eclector: Sir John Soane
Entering the Soane’s, you’re immediately engulfed by a visual tempest — a staggering accumulation of art, artifacts, and plaster casts squeezed into three adjoining London townhouses. There’s not a patch…
I Traded My ABBA Tickets for a Kitchen Table — then this show changed everything
Once a Eurovision cynic, I walked out of ABBA Voyage stunned, converted, and grateful for the wake-up call. About 49 years ago, in Tokyo, I first heard ABBA. I wasn’t…
Temple Church and the Secret Within
Way back when The Da Vinci Code was first released, I was fascinated—not least because symbols and symbology have been tenants of my mystical journey and curiosity, seeking for decades.…
Rocks Back Pages: The World’s Largest Archive of Music Journalism
lead photo: Author Elise Krentzel and Founder of Rocks Back Pages Barney Hoskyns at their HQ There was an instant camaraderie — that rare, unspoken recognition between two people who’ve…