toyeMuch discussion today of the trustworthiness, of lack thereof, of different names. In the interest of not alienating sections of our readership, I will have to redact our conclusions, but I would be interested to find out if readers share our irrational prejudices…

Anyway, enough of these witterings, and on with some reviews written by people with very sensible names.

First up, The Roar of the Lion: The Untold Story of Churchill’s World War II Speeches by Richard Toye. Kevin Matthews and the author discuss a valuable addition to the study of Churchill’s wartime premiership (no. 1542).

pietschThen we have Tamson Pietsch’s Empire of Scholars: Universities, Networks and the British Academic World, 1850-1939. Barbara Bush finds this book succeeds in its aim of writing settler universities into the history of British academia (no. 1541).

mccallNext up is Baal’s Priests: The Loyalist Clergy and the English Revolution, by Fiona McCall, and James Mawdesley believes that while the author has done a great service to historians of the 17th century in highlighting the treasures of the Walker archive, this book is not the final word (no. 1540).

langhamerFinally, we have Claire Langhamer’s The English in Love: The Intimate Story of an Emotional Revolution. Sally Holloway reviews a hotly anticipated new book, part of a new wave of scholarship on romantic love (no. 1539).