21st Century
Best Reads of 2022
A brief rundown of my favourite books from 2022: essentially those I awarded 5* on my Goodreads page. Fiction (no particular order) I’ve always loved
4th December 2022
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fascism
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abuse
Q Marks the Spot 158 (December 2021 Treasure Map)
Sacred Treasure Advent is upon us – do follow Malcolm Guite’s meditations through the season (taken from his book). Here’s the first from George Herbert’s
1st December 2021
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AFRICA
Q Marks the Spot 154 (August 2021 Treasure Map)
Sacred Treasure Everything I’ve picked up over recent years confirms this. An extraordinary religious revolution underway in Iran. In the Guardian of all places: God-given
1st August 2021
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Ancient History
Q Marks the Spot 148 (February 2021 Treasure Map)
Sacred Treasure If you haven’t yet come across her or her work, then the time has come, Ruth Naomi Floyd is a precious friend and
1st February 2021
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20th Century
“O Tempora! O Mores Evangelici!” 10. A milestone and a decision
Something Hugh said at that meeting in Sheffield has been etched on my memory every since. I’d only been in ordained ministry perhaps 2 or 3 years and we were having our normal post-Summer catchup and planning session.
We would habitually begin with a short devotional, but that day, Hugh was in reflective mood. Only a few weeks before, he’d celebrated his 50th birthday, and now he openly described how affecting that milestone had been. If memory serves, it was on the lines of “I now realize that I have more years of formal ministry behind me than ahead of me.”
20th January 2021
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20th Century
“O Tempora! O Mores Evangelici!” 9. Believing the propaganda
You will know of Godwin’s law, I’m sure, whereby the longer an internet discussion countinues, “the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches 1.” So, I’m afraid, the time has come.
One of the most gripping if chilling works of history that I’ve read is one that I find myself returning to a lot these days, despite the fact that it is well over 10 years since I first encountered it (in early research for Wilderness of Mirrors). Sir Ian Kershaw has spent a lifetime researching 20th Century German history and has brought all kinds of profound insights to the anglophone world (including through his mammoth two-volume biography of Hitler).
14th January 2021
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20th Century
Echoes from Eternity: 26. VE Day 1945 & the Nazi Surrender
The 2020 VE day is the 75th. We can’t witness great spectacles and commemoration events because of the virus. Everything is much more low-key, necessarily.
8th May 2020
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20th Century
Anti-Semitism in the UK: 4. Stoppard views the century from Leopoldstadt
Tom Stoppard is one of the greatest living playwrights. End of. His output has been remarkable so I’ve always been excited when news of new
26th February 2020
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20th Century
Anti-Semitism in the UK: 3. Figleaves, Snowflakes and Statistics
Previous posts Anti-Semitism in the UK: 1. 75 years after Auschwitz… Anti-Semitism in the UK: 2. The challenge of definitions Now I’m super-conscious that the
17th February 2020
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20th Century
Anti-Semitism in the UK: 2. The challenge of definition
Click here for Anti-Semitism in the UK: 1. 75 years after Auschwitz… Now I’m horribly aware of the hot water I’m tiptoeing into. So let
13th February 2020
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20th Century
When Lord Halifax got packed off to Washington in 1940
My father has been going through the diaries of his grandfather, Fra (for Francis) Meynell. For reasons that I won’t bore you with now, the
17th September 2017
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Q Marks the Spot – Treasure Map 109 (September 2017)
Sacred Treasure Emma Scrivener does a beautiful job here on 10 reasons to have hope in the face of darkness Persecution of Christians around the world
1st September 2017
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