Wow, yours is a very learned selection - much of mine seems *cough* bath book in comparison. (a bath book is one that's small enough to hold whilst wallowing; a good read but one which it wouldn't break your heart to drop in the water by accident ...) To my shame, I've never read The Prince, though (cringe) I've referred to Machiavellian tendencies and I've never heard of Dorothy Dunnett, though as an absolute sucker for historical literature, I shall be acquainting myself forthwith. My degree's in Eng Lit, so Shakespeare's a must (just not the Comedies for me, as I've never actually managed to find the comedy in them!). If it weren't for Will, the English language would be devoid of an awful lot of sayings and aphorisms.
Ooh, LOTN!! I'd read The Last Kingdom, The Pale Horseman and LOTN before I knew that RA had read it. Needless to say, I hastily bought the audio book -'nuff said! I'll definitely check out King Hereafter - sounds right up my street.
Going on a bit in time from LOTN, is The Last English King by Julian Rathbone - narrated by one of his followers, it's about Harold, Hastings and the aftermath and a good read as well.
I agree with you that the Comedies are a better visual than read medium, but given a choice, I'd go for the Histories and most of the Tragedies every time. I can still quote chunks of Macbeth, Hamlet, Richard II and Henry IV and V!! (how sad am I?) Thinking of Histories, I confess to liking Kit Marlowe, too - Tamburlaine and Edward II particularly.
Two favs from my schooldays are George and Weedon Grossmith's Diary of a Nobody - Victorian middle-class snobbery at its absolute best and Sellars and Yeatman's definitive history spoof 1066 and All That.
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To my shame, I've never read The Prince, though (cringe) I've referred to Machiavellian tendencies and I've never heard of Dorothy Dunnett, though as an absolute sucker for historical literature, I shall be acquainting myself forthwith.
My degree's in Eng Lit, so Shakespeare's a must (just not the Comedies for me, as I've never actually managed to find the comedy in them!). If it weren't for Will, the English language would be devoid of an awful lot of sayings and aphorisms.
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Going on a bit in time from LOTN, is The Last English King by Julian Rathbone - narrated by one of his followers, it's about Harold, Hastings and the aftermath and a good read as well.
I agree with you that the Comedies are a better visual than read medium, but given a choice, I'd go for the Histories and most of the Tragedies every time. I can still quote chunks of Macbeth, Hamlet, Richard II and Henry IV and V!! (how sad am I?) Thinking of Histories, I confess to liking Kit Marlowe, too - Tamburlaine and Edward II particularly.
Two favs from my schooldays are George and Weedon Grossmith's Diary of a Nobody - Victorian middle-class snobbery at its absolute best and Sellars and Yeatman's definitive history spoof 1066 and All That.
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