Jonathan Crain
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Entertainment as Extermination in Matt Dinniman's "Operation Bounce House"
Matt Dinniman’s Operation Bounce House is a science-fiction novel that recognizes what many genre books miss: satire requires coherent systems.
Feb 1
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Jonathan Crain
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Nicholas Fogg's Material History of the Elizabethan Stage
On December 28, 1598, about sixteen men assembled in Shoreditch with saws and axes.
Jan 28
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Jonathan Crain
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Debunking Easter Island's Fall in Mike Pitts's "Island at the Edge of the World"
A review of Mike Pitts's "Island at the Edge of the World"
Jan 23
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Jonathan Crain
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The Warlord and the Statesman: Adrian Goldsworthy's "Augustus"
I requested this advance copy under the mistaken impression that it was a new book.
Jan 19
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Jonathan Crain
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Melodramatic Machines and Fragile Omnipotence: Iain M. Banks's "Excession"
First published in 1996 and soon to be reissued by Orbit, Excession occupies a distinctive position within the Culture series.
Jan 14
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Jonathan Crain
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Alice Albinia's Britannias: History from the Margins
Alice Albinia’s The Britannias: An Archipelago’s Tale (The Britannias: An Island Quest in the UK) seeks to reorient British history by shifting focus…
Jan 11
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Jonathan Crain
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Film, Fascism, and Moral Compromise in Daniel Kehlmann's "The Director"
Daniel Kehlmann’s The Director (translated from the German by Ross Benjamin) opens with an elderly man in a Viennese sanatorium, his memory flickering…
Jan 5
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Jonathan Crain
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A Two-Wheeled Time Machine: Graham Robb's "The Discovery of Britain"
Graham Robb cycled backwards through two thousand years of British history—metaphorically traversing those millennia to read time inscribed in the…
Jan 2
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Jonathan Crain
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The Architects of Outcome: Women in Dorothy Dunnett's "Lymond Chronicles"
Few historical series are as persistently associated with their male protagonists while being fundamentally shaped by their female characters as The…
Dec 30, 2025
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Jonathan Crain
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Reading and Reckoning: Shona MacLean's "The Cromarty Library Circle"
In The Cromarty Library Circle, Shona MacLean turns away from the pursuit-driven plotting that marked much of her earlier fiction.
Dec 26, 2025
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Jonathan Crain
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Ashes and Archives: Susan Orlean's "The Library Book"
The Library Book, by Susan Orlean, is an investigation into the 1986 fire that ravaged the Los Angeles Central Library, destroying or damaging more than…
Dec 21, 2025
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Jonathan Crain
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History Before the Victory: Reframing Ancient Carthage
In Carthage: A New History (Carthage: A New History of an Ancient Empire in the UK), Eve MacDonald sets out to recover a civilization known primarily…
Dec 19, 2025
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Jonathan Crain
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Royal Silence, Archival Voice: A Review of Brooke N. Newman's "The Crown's Silence"
Brooke N.
Dec 15, 2025
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Jonathan Crain
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Through the Deluge: "Sharpe's Storm" by Bernard Cornwell
In Sharpe’s Storm: Richard Sharpe and the Invasion of Southern France, 1813, Bernard Cornwell returns to familiar territory—familiar in the best…
Dec 12, 2025
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Jonathan Crain
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Time Measured in Stone: Benjamin Myers's "Cuddy"
Benjamin Myers writes about people history overlooks—working-class lives, rural communities, and the way the past refuses to stay buried.
Dec 8, 2025
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Jonathan Crain
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The Work, Not the Spectacle: Simon Turney's "Agricola: Commander"
Simon Turney’s Agricola: Commander arrives at a point of confidence, settling into productive tension—between the machinery of conquest and the cost of…
Nov 30, 2025
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Jonathan Crain
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When Plague Comes Home: Maggie O'Farrell's "Hamnet"
This Review Contains Spoilers
Nov 26, 2025
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Jonathan Crain
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