Mathew Lyons
@MathewJLyons
Writer, historian, FRHistS. Recent: @HistoryToday, @EngelsbergIdeas, @spectator, @FoxedQuarterly. Books: The Favourite, Impossible Journeys, There & Back Again
Hi folks. I’ve started a Substack called The Broken Compass. The plan is for it to feature essays and book reviews, thoughts and reflections on my current research and reading, and, I hope, interviews with other historians and authors. open.substack.com/pub/mathewlyon…
I didn't think the book really worked, but I enjoyed writing and thinking about Marina Warner's new book Sanctuary for @engelsbergideas engelsbergideas.com/reviews/when-s…
Someone's just told the Dashwood sisters that DOT Productions won't be returning to #GreenKnowe until summer 2026! But don't worry - there are still plenty of reasons to visit us: greenknowe.co.uk #OpenGarden #GuidedTours #BoatTrips #GhostStories
Marina Warner’s idea of sanctuary in storytelling is unable to meet her book's ambitions. When sanctuary looks like retreat | @MathewJLyons engelsbergideas.com/reviews/when-s…
New on The Writer’s Bookshelf: eight questions about writers, books, and reading with the brilliant Seb Falk. open.substack.com/pub/mathewlyon…
Good piece in The Economist on how AI is strangling the internet. Personally, I think we’ll see the same phenomenon - mass AI looting and revenue destruction - with most other content. All accelerated by credulous governments. Link in next post.
"Talk to each other before you kill each other." Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, a survivor of the Women's Orchestra of Auschwitz, gives some advice ahead of her 100th birthday today. #R4Today
‘we need a backward miracle’ - a sonnet by Kay Ryan
Lovely to be on the list with some great poets.
The Forward Prize for Best Collection – We’re proud to reveal the #ForwardPrizes 2025 shortlist for Best Collection! Five powerful books from some of the most compelling voices in poetry today. 👏 Congrats to the poets & publishers! 🔗 Full list: buff.ly/SS35YlZ
And while you're at it, check out @EngelsbergIdeas in general. Many interesting essays on all sorts of matters historical, geopolitical and cultural. The place to go for an intelligent long read. engelsbergideas.com
Read my review of The Constant Wife at @TheRSC here. With reflections on light-touch historical updating and why you shouldn't necessarily be disappointed if you get the understudy rather than the big star. engelsbergideas.com/reviews/the-co…
In this striking new book, Marvin Trachtenberg sets out to “demythologise” the Renaissance architect Filippo Brunelleschi. He not only succeeds - he makes it seem easy. ✍️My review of “Brunelleschi and the Moment of the Renaissance” for @TheCriticMag thecritic.co.uk/issues/july-20…
This was one of my picks out of the July non-fiction books! I'm really looking forward to reading it.
A charming (4 star!) review in @TelegraphBooks for one of my authors @reaktionbooks Teaching us all that we can learn so much from our elders “[A] fascinating history of old age . . . Winter Dreams is a satisfying meal of a book and I learnt a great deal.” telegraph.co.uk/books/non-fict…
This is a fascinating story about The Song of Wade – a lost piece of English literary history – and a fragment of it that MR James uncovered in the late 19th century, which has until now been misread and misinterpreted. cam.ac.uk/stories/song-o…
Still being offered talks by local history societies who will not budge on a flat rate of £50. Same fee as 20+ years ago. After travel costs of £15-20 taken off, that's £6-7 per hour for the average 5 hours spent out of the house. Not even minimum wage. I despair.
By the 14th century Christianity had swept many of Europe’s indigenous religions aside, but not all. At the continent’s peripheries #paganism survived and, in some cases, thrived. 🔒 Archive subscribers can read this article from the July issue now buff.ly/kZn5Wd4
Been thinking of Steve Earle's lyrics and now some good news. "Come back Woody Guthrie, Come back to us now; Tear your eyes from paradise, And rise again somehow." nytimes.com/2025/07/14/art…
Delighted to be speaking about THE EAGLE AND THE HART at Southwark Cathedral’s wonderful History Festival on Saturday 19 July at 2.30pm - ticket link to follow - please come!