You wouldn’t guess from the cover design—three songbirds silhouetted over swatches of picturesque Englishness—but Catherine Clarke’s A History of England in 25 Poems hits one of its sweet spots with a

Just a hop, skip and jump from London, but a million miles from the stresses of the city, newly refurbished countryside retreat Burnham Beeches makes a perfect escape, whether you’re seeking a Mother’

A Queer Inheritance: Alternative Histories in the National ...

JOHN DOWLAND IS MY NAME: musician, composer, greatest lute player of my age in Europe, some say, when in England Elizabeth and James were on the throne. I died in 1626 when I was 63 and was buried on

Gracing the banks of the River Thames, this exquisite gem survived the Civil War thanks to a shrewd political operator, and is one of the finest Stuart houses in the country

Best books… Roy Foster The emeritus professor of ...