The wonder stuff

Obelisks, pyramids and motifs from ancient Egypt didn’t only influence grand country houses or powerful Biblical paintings, but also shaped tea-ware, cinemas and even factory floors, as Michael Hall reveals

Over the years, my best friend, who lives in Egypt, had invited me to stay with him more than once, always with the promise of extraordinary hospitality, but I always found reasons to decline. Sometim

Were you interested in history from a young age? What first sparked your interest in the past? I hated history in school because it was boring – although I did read historical novels even then. Later,

11 OCTOBER SATURDAY

PYRAMIDS, obelisks, coffins and sphinxes are embedded in ...

Fantasy author JRR Tolkien’s mythological Middle Earth takes inspiration from a number of places in Gloucestershire and the West Midlands. Tolkien frequently visited the Forest of Dean and its tempera