A Rhyming History Of Britain

The Rhyming History of Britain Has never - heretofore - been written 'I am not a historian. In fact, I wrote this poem in order to teach myself some history. I thought that sorting facts into verse form would concentrate my mind wonderfully. Which it did.' Brought up with the iambic pentameters of Hilaire Belloc's Cautionary Verses ringing in his ears, James Muirden's rhyming history is a long poem in an equally simple and jolly form. Charmingly irreverent, magically humorous, delightfully illustrated by David Eccles - recently acclaimed for his line drawings for Now We Are Sixty - this is the perfect gift for historians and non-historians alike. This cheerful poem has been written To tell the History of Britain; For People puzzled by the Past - If this means YOU, here's help at last! From Celts to Churchill, it relates (With all the most Important Dates) Our country's convoluted course... Why Richard hollered for a horse; Why Eleanor was such a catch; Why no one liked the Spanish Match; The pros and cons of Laissez Faire; Smart Georgian ladies' underwear; Why Charles the Second went to plays; Why Queen Jane reigned for just nine days; The causes of the Irish trouble; The bursting of the South Sea Bubble; That giant glasshouse in Hyde Park; The First World War's igniting spark...

Histories of Britain composed during the "twelfth-century renaissance" display a remarkable amount of literary variety (Latin varietas). Furthermore, British historians writing after the Norman Conquest often draw attention to the differing forms of their texts. But why would historians of this period associate literary variety with the work of history-writing? Drawing on theories of literary variety found in classical and medieval rhetoric, this book traces how British writers came to believe that varietas could help them construct comprehensive, continuous accounts of Britain's past. It shows how Latin prose historians, such as William of Malmesbury, Henry of Huntingdon, and Geoffrey of Monmouth, filled their texts with a diverse array of literary forms, which they carefully selected and ordered in accordance with their broader historiographical aims. The pronounced literary variety of these influential histories inspired some Middle English verse chroniclers, including Laȝamon and Robert Mannyng, to adopt similar principles in their vernacular poetry. By uncovering the rhetorical and historiographical theories beneath their literary variety, this book provides a new framework for interpreting the stylistic and organizational choices of medieval historians.

An Illustrated History of British Theatre and Performance chronicles the history and development of theatre from the Roman era to the present day. As the most public of arts, theatre constantly interacts with changing social, political and intellectual movements and ideas, and Robert Leach’s masterful work restores to the foreground of this evolution the contributions of women, gay people and ethnic minorities, as well as the theatres of the English regions, and of Wales and Scotland. Highly illustrated chapters trace the development of theatre through major plays from each period; evaluations of playwrights; contemporary dramatic theory; acting and acting companies; dance and music; the theatre buildings themselves; and the audience, while also highlighting enduring features of British theatre, from comic gags to the use of props. This first volume spans from the earliest forms of performance to the popular theatres of high society and the Enlightenment, tracing a movement from the outdoor and fringe to the heart of the social world. The Illustrated History acts as an accessible, flexible basis for students of the theatre, and for pure fans of British theatre history there could be no better starting point.

First published in 1999. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.