I went to two events last week. The first was Vigdis Hjorth discussing her new book, Is Mother Dead, at the London Review of Books shop. Since I have read only one book by this prolific Norwegian writer, I will not comment too much except to write that I am working on a review of her excellent book, Long Live the Post Horn.
The second event was held at the Institute of Historical Research. The meeting was held to announce the soon-to-be publication of the Writings of Oliver Cromwell. It was disappointing that most academic communities ignored such an important event. The conference itself was put in a grubby room with no sign on the door, and more importantly, no wine was on show. If Oxford University Press is reading this, a review copy would not go a miss or at least produce a paperback copy that you do not have to sell an organ to afford. John Morrill leader of the team that carried out the new collection has a new biography of Oliver Cromwell coming out in 2023. By all accounts it will be a new revisionist assessment of the leader of the English revolution.
Monday of
this week, I listened to an excellent lecture by John Rees- The Fiery Spirits and the coming of
the English Revolution. Convened by the beautiful Sophie Aldred. It is part of
the Britain in Revolution series held online at the University of Oxford. John's
book on the same subject will be released by Verso next year.
According to
his university web page, "John Rees is researching the republicans and
regicides of the Long Parliament, 1640-1650, in preparation for a second major
book on the English Revolution. This will develop the argument of The Leveller
Revolution (Verso, 2016) that the proclamation of the Republic and the
execution of Charles I resulted from a political bloc fashioned by the radical
Independents and the Leveller movement. The long parliament's so-called 'fiery
spirits' often had personal and family histories opposing the Stuart monarchy.
Examining these will give us an insight into the causes of the English
Revolution. The study will focus on the careers of four of the most prominent
fiery spirits, the MPs Henry Marten, William Strode, Peter Wentworth, and
Alexander Rigby."
Anyone who
follows My website will see that a new article on the current postal strike has
just been published. It can be read at https://atrumpetofsedition.org/
or can be seen at https://www.royalmailchat.co.uk/home.php
A recent
visit to my favourite bookshop in London, Judd Books, yielded some new books
that I might or might not read. Witness to the German Revolution-Victor Serge.
Doing History from the Bottom Up-Staughton Lynd. Miles-by Miles Davis. The
Philosophy of Modern Song Hardcover – 1 Nov. 2022by Bob Dylan. I hope to review
this book when it is released.
CT sent me an
interesting book- Sergei
Kondratiev's book on the English Revolution (translated from Russian by Google).
If anyone wants a pdf copy I will send it via email.
