Welcome to Litsy!

Medieval imposture? Arnault Du Tihl learned and remembered every aspect of the missing Martin Guerre and lived as him for 3 yrs, having two children with his wife before he found himself accused of imposture. Then he almost won his case. Fun stuff - a 1980 history book that‘s still quite fascinating, and short. (3.5 hrs on audio, and free on audible)

#OnThisDay #NOV6

I can‘t believe we‘re so close to Halloween and the end of #scarathlon 🎃 I always wish this month could last forever. I was out at a Halloween party last night and today I‘m feeling a bit delicate and doing my masters reading with a scented candle, a horror movie in the background, and all my cleaning done, which is pretty idyllic #scarathlon #skeletoncrew

I have q a lot of reviews to catch up on so I‘ll be posting a lot in the next few hours!

A read for grad school that tbh I wouldn‘t have read otherwise - Jacobean tragedy is much more me than comedies - but at least it‘s some scarathlon points eh?

#skeletoncrew #scarathlon #outstandingoctober

Spent the afternoon at the State Library at their World of the Book exhibition (they‘re not Muriel Spark fans, obviously😆) and thought the servants of the #CatsofLitsy would appreciate this. At some point in the last 400 odd years, a cat has walked through some ink and then walked across this page 🐾😹

This is basically a fresh look at the Stuart dynasty. The 17th century really was a tumultuous time for England, Scotland and Ireland. The author really digs into the details of religious strife and social upheaval. There‘s plague! There‘s fire! And that‘s just 1666! If you want to know the difference between the Protectorate and the Glorious Revolution this book will set you straight! 🍊👑🔥🐀

I have been working on this one for a week or so. This was totally engrossing. This is a collection of letters Elizabeth penned as well as poems and notes. Anyone who is a lover of history and the Tudor time period will find this to be a really interesting read. #nonfiction

A fantastic microhistory about a 16th century miller who believed the earth was formed much in the same way cheese is, through putrefaction came a mass, that worms then formed in this mass which were angels. Ginsburg impressively unravels how these beliefs may have been formed, analysing the books Menocchio would have read, the oral culture and traditions of his village, the movement of ideas, wider contexts and consequences of the reformation.

I wasn't expecting this, but this book was easily one of the best books I've read this year -- lucid, witty, well-written. I learned a ton about revolutionary England and my interest was held the whole time. Would make a great follow-up to Lucy Wooding's Tudor England: A History.