Topic description and stories

Clare Bryant

Novel Thoughts #2: Clare Bryant on AS Byatt’s Possession

12 Jun 2015

New film series Novel Thoughts reveals the reading habits of eight Cambridge scientists and peeks inside the covers of the books that have played a...

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Paul Coxon

Novel Thoughts #1: Paul Coxon on Jan Wahl's SOS Bobomobile

08 Jun 2015

New film series Novel Thoughts reveals the reading habits of eight Cambridge scientists and peeks inside the covers of the books that have played a...

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Novel Thoughts

Novel Thoughts: what Cambridge scientists read

08 Jun 2015

Literature and science may seem like opposite ends of the spectrum, but reading can have an impact on even the most scientific of brains. A new film...

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Image from the Boy's book of British battles

Waterloo: the first draft of history

30 Apr 2015

A letter written from the body-strewn battlefield at Waterloo, an invasion map of the UK, and a book from Napoleon’s personal library in exile will...

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Left - portrait of Charles V; centre - portrait of Henry VIII; right - portrait of Pedro Maria Rossi

What goes up must come down: a brief history of the codpiece

30 Apr 2015

Only briefly in vogue, the codpiece has left a rich legacy in art, literature and – most recently – in televised costume drama. In focusing her...

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The ghostly faces under UV light

Ghosts from the past brought back to life

01 Apr 2015

One of the UK’s most important medieval manuscripts is revealing ghosts from the past after new research and imaging work discovered eerie faces and...

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Music in the tree of life

Music in the tree of life

18 Mar 2015

Modern scientific methods for mapping the evolution of species are being applied to centuries-old hand-copied music, providing new inspiration for...

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The Searcher, a statue of CS Lewis by sculptor, Ross Wilson, at Holywood Arches Library in Belfast

CS Lewis: 50 years after his death a new scholarship will honour his literary career

08 Nov 2013

CS Lewis, creator of some of the most-loved children’s stories and also a scholar of medieval and early modern literature, died half a century ago on...

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Why do we read (and write) novels?

14 Oct 2013

On the eve of the Man Booker prize, our insatiable appetite for fiction (and fascination with those who create it) comes sharply into focus...

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Russia: Up close

18 May 2013

A new book prize aimed at furthering our understanding of the Russian-speaking world will help the West to come to terms with the complexity of post-...

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Charles Towne, Hilly Landscape, Oil on canvas, 38.7cm x 51.1cm (detail)

Views of the landscape

17 May 2013

In a talk on Monday (20 May 2013) Dr Simon Nightingale will explore how painterly interpretations of the countryside were embedded into the...

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Books in the Murray Edwards Duse Collection

The lost library of Eleonora Duse

23 Jan 2013

How her personal library informed the phenomenal talent of the Italian actress Eleonora Duse is revealed in a newly-published book that catalogues...

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