The period of British history which we call the Dark Ages was not dark at all – according to the author of this book, Martin Wall. But we do know the period this term covers, between about 500 and 1000 BC, was marked by frequent warfare. Many of us choose to imagine it best probablyContinue reading “Book Review: ‘The Magical History of Britain’ by Martin Wall”
Category Archives: SC Skillman
Film and Book Review: ‘Silence’ by Shusaku Endo: and The Film Starring Andrew Garfield
Silence by Shusaku Endo is one of the most compelling and powerful books I’ve ever read. I wrote about it in this way on my website as part of a blog post about an exhibition at the British Museum, Living With the Gods. When I first read the book, several years ago, I think oneContinue reading “Film and Book Review: ‘Silence’ by Shusaku Endo: and The Film Starring Andrew Garfield”
Book Review: “London: A Spiritual History” by Edoardo Albert
I loved this book – attracted to it originally in the shop of the Royal Naval College Visitor Centre, Greenwich, by its delightful, playful cover design. London: A Spiritual History by Edoardo Albert begins by telling the history of London from well before the Roman invasion, and then bringing us through to the present day,Continue reading “Book Review: “London: A Spiritual History” by Edoardo Albert”
Book Review: “Paul: a Biography” by Tom Wright
This is a thorough, vivid and enlightening book about Paul the Apostle, otherwise known as St Paul. Tom Wright opens up for us the amazing personality of Paul: formidable, intellectual, resilient, passionate, determined, lyrical, energetic and utterly committed – a former Pharisee and a zealous Jew. At the age of 23, Paul had his revelationContinue reading “Book Review: “Paul: a Biography” by Tom Wright”
Book Review: “The Making of Us” by Sheridan Voysey
Here’s a book which should appeal to those of you who feel as if you’ve reached a point in your lives where all that you hoped for has not been achieved; maybe it seems you have to let go of your dreams; and perhaps you simply don’t know where to go from here. The MakingContinue reading “Book Review: “The Making of Us” by Sheridan Voysey”
Great Gardens of England: Hidcote Manor Gardens, near Chipping Campden
A great garden is an image of paradise, in more than one religious outlook. Perhaps this is because within such a garden, all the very best of the natural world is taken by human ingenuity, and then gifted and skilled gardeners weave their own design and creativity into it. Our dreams become realised through aContinue reading “Great Gardens of England: Hidcote Manor Gardens, near Chipping Campden”
All Hallows by the Tower, London: Evocative and Powerful Keeper of Historical Treasures and a Message of Christian Unity
All Hallows by the Tower – even the very name is evocative. And so it should be, for it is the oldest church in the City of London, and the church nearest to the Tower of London. And although two queens and three dukes, among others, lie buried beneath the altar pavement of StContinue reading “All Hallows by the Tower, London: Evocative and Powerful Keeper of Historical Treasures and a Message of Christian Unity”
The Foundling Museum, London: Poignant History of Those Working to Overcome Eighteenth Century Social Injustice
Few things in this world can be more heartbreaking than a lost, abandoned or mortally-endangered child, in a world where there is precious little compassion or social justice. Some of our most well-known archetypal stories play into this fear: Babes in the Wood is one, and Little Red Riding Hood or Hansel and Gretel or TheContinue reading “The Foundling Museum, London: Poignant History of Those Working to Overcome Eighteenth Century Social Injustice”
The Royal Naval College Hospital, Greenwich – Place of Refuge for Sick and Disabled Ex-Sailors between the Seventeenth and Nineteenth Centuries
As you disembark from the Thames clipper at Greenwich you will enter a grand building in which is housed the excellent Visitor Centre for the Royal Naval College – built above the foundations of King Henry VIII’s favourite palace, Greenwich Palace. Magnificent and imposing as the college buildings are, they were used as a hospital toContinue reading “The Royal Naval College Hospital, Greenwich – Place of Refuge for Sick and Disabled Ex-Sailors between the Seventeenth and Nineteenth Centuries”
The Sugar and Slavery Gallery at the Museum of London Docklands – Stories of Great Suffering Upon which our Privileged Lives Are Founded
The International Slave Trade was in force between the mid seventeenth and the late nineteenth centuries. Although it was abolished in 1838 it didn’t magically stop on that date. And in that time millions of men, women and children from Africa were treated as if they were subhuman, disposable objects, moving parts of a machine,Continue reading “The Sugar and Slavery Gallery at the Museum of London Docklands – Stories of Great Suffering Upon which our Privileged Lives Are Founded”
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