rebellion

The subversive message of Paradise Lost

30 November 2024 9:00 am

The great poem is mostly about revolution: how much individuals can revolt against God, father, church and king without bringing all the heavens down upon their heads

Freedom fighters of the ‘forgotten continent’

9 November 2024 9:00 am

A history of South America’s native heroes includes the Peruvian rebel Tupac Amaro II, the Mapuche of Chile, the escaped slaves of north-eastern Brazil and the ‘great liberator’ Simon Bolivar

Waifs and strays: Gliff, by Ali Smith, reviewed

2 November 2024 9:00 am

Two lonely, recalcitrant children, Briar and Rose, find themselves among a bunch of other rag-tag misfits resisting ‘re-education’ by the brutal regime in power

Whispers of ‘usurper’ at the Lancastrian court

5 October 2024 9:00 am

When Henry Bolingbroke deposed his cousin Richard II, the populace at first united under his command. But was it a sign of divine retribution when his health dramatically deteriorated?

The holy fool

10 June 2023 9:00 am

The beleaguered monarch cuts a sad figure at the opening of David Carpenter’s second volume of biography – in contrast to his brilliant arch-enemy Simon de Montfort

Fleeing paradise: eden, by Jim Crace, reviewed

13 August 2022 9:00 am

Since announcing his retirement in 2013, Jim Crace has had more comebacks than Kanye West, something for which we should…

Fear and loathing in Jamaica: Caribbean slaves turn the whip on their masters

11 January 2020 9:00 am

In the shadows of the British Enlightenment lurked the Caribbean sugar plantations. Masters routinely raped their slaves, punished minor wrongdoings…