Category Archives: Books

A roam around my books – 1- in search of my “favourite” book.

Posted on 22 February 2013 by Lynn Steinson

I live in a house which is occupied by battalions of books. My study has a wall lined with them, the living room hosts a bookcase, the landing another. Books are scattered on occasional tables and bedside cabinets, recipe books … Continue reading →

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Guilt – the gripping new psychological thriller.

Posted on 1 March 2021 by Lynn Steinson

Manchester is enjoying a long hot summer but Lisa hasn’t noticed. She’s dreading being called as the chief witness in a murder trial. That’s after she has attended the funerals of the victims. In London her colleagues at Bergers advertising … Continue reading →

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A roam about my books 9 – in search of postmodernism

Posted on 23 February 2021 by Lynn Steinson

Robert Eaglestone’s book Postmodernism and Holocaust Denial is the only reference to postmodernism on my bookshelves. It reminds me that there are no volumes by the French political philosophers who shaped the generations of arts, humanities and social science undergraduates … Continue reading →

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A roam around my books 8 – staying power

Posted on 23 March 2019 by Lynn Steinson

‘There were Africans in Britain before the English came here’ is certainly a great opening line, but for me there’s nothing like a good footnote. Peter Fryer’s Staying Power is packed with them, or I should say endnotes. One hundred and … Continue reading →

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A roam around my books 7 – studying the historian

Posted on 19 August 2017 by Lynn Steinson

I often use Wikipedia, but a search for its entry on “history” reminds me how dangerous that lazy habit can be. History is “the study of the past as it is described in written documents”. Really? Even a check of … Continue reading →

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A roam around my books 6 – the die is cast.

Posted on 16 August 2017 by Lynn Steinson

My academic books were purged shortly after my finals and the losers traded at the university book mart. The survivors, including those which have never been opened in the intervening years, have not been threatened since. They are pillars of … Continue reading →

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A roam around my books 5 – books to be left alone

Posted on 8 January 2016 by Lynn Steinson

Inevitably, only a skeleton collection of books read during my teens, twenties and thirties remains. They have survived many removal boxes and stiff competition from newcomers for space. I remember savouring Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance during a … Continue reading →

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A roam around my books – 4

Posted on 21 December 2015 by Lynn Steinson

I love biographies. What are the qualities, the chances or choices, that lead to achievement and fame? Just how does a writer decide which events to include or omit from the narrative of a lifetime. A linear sequence of episodes … Continue reading →

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A roam around my books – 3

Posted on 3 June 2015 by Lynn Steinson

I love to travel, venture into the unknown. Two shelves of travel books represent my worldwide quest for understanding the world we live in a little more, questioning ‘knowledge’ which had hitherto been taken for granted, or learning and seeing … Continue reading →

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Historians make history, but not in circumstances of their own choosing…

Posted on 31 October 2013 by Lynn Steinson

“Men make their own history, but they do not make it as they please; they do not make it under circumstances of their own choosing, but under circumstances existing already, given and transmitted from the past”, Karl Marx. Edward Palmer … Continue reading →

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A roam around my books – 2

Posted on 8 March 2013 by Lynn Steinson

My new pine bookcase runs along almost the entire length of the dining room. It was almost filled within an hour of delivery, with a selection of political and travel books and many of my biographies, an eclectic collection which … Continue reading →

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