My Commonplace Blog

[Thomas] Blount’s execution resulted in the one of the greatest displays of wit in the face of adversity ever recorded. As he was sitting do...

Historians have argued for many years over whether Richard went mad in 1397. In the mid-twentieth century it was thought that he had indeed ...

Twelve of the most prominent young men of the realm were to be knighted in a special service. … If ever there was an event which demonstrate...

Henry and Richard were born rivals. For a start, they were almost exactly the same age. Richard was born at Bordeaux, in Gascony, on 6 Janua...

I once put together a book called The Tiger Garden: A Book of Writer's Dreams . Every day I sat at my desk typing up other people's ...

The writer Conrad Williams, has a dislike, if not a deep, pathological loathing, for that word - 'reread'. I know what he means. At ...

There is a great difference in the ordinary preparation of vegetables by the English and by us. The English usually boil their vegetables to...