Look out for Routledge history’s much-anticipated edition of The Pleasures of the Imagination, historian John Brewer’s classic study of English culture in the eighteenth century – the era when many of our great works were made. The book has been out of print for a decade but has been revived so that all may enjoy the insights into the world of Grub Street, the debating clubs, poetry circles, music festivals and theatres. A good reference book to add some colour to history classes. Get your copy for £35 (ISBN 978-0-415-65885-0)
While you’re there, you could seek out another wonderful book that showcases propaganda images from Vietnam. While poster art remains a popular medium, Vietnam Posters and Billboards is the first comprehensive collection of the remarkable posters produced during the country’s fight for independence and in the years following the establishment of the socialist republic of Vietnam. Colourful, powerful, striking, this beautifully-produced book admirably fills that gap, offering a broad ranging collection of wartime posters, augmented by some peacetime examples on such themes as anti-smoking campaigns. Many of the 220 brilliant images were produced in the jungle under the most primitive circumstances and under constant threat of attack and bombardment. Published by Artbook.
Talking of war, did you know that the national theatre is touring its award-winning War horse? Sold out in Plymouth, you had better book now!
The history of our home-grown industry is celebrated at the Coalbrookdale gallery at the Ironbridge gorge. Pit Profiles: Re-Profiled, an absorbing and thought-provoking exhibition of miners’ portraits and their personal stories, will be on display from June 21 until December 31. The collection is made up of evocative contemporary photographs of colliery workers taken by photographer Anton Want along with a selection of drawings of pit workers by H Andrew Freeth, originally published in the 1940s and ‘50s. Between them, these two artists have created an important legacy, which honours one of Britain’s oldest industries and the people who have helped to shape it. Free to view, Pit Profile, Re-Profiled will be open Monday – Friday from 10am until 5pm. for further information visit www.ironbridge.org.uk.
And finally I am about to embark on an exciting new novel called Bone Ash Sky by Katerina Cosgrave. The novel covers the bloodshed of a century of war in the Middle East, taking in the Armenian genocide, Beruit and Palestine. See what I make of it in September’s edition of Ink Pellet.