“God has given women beautiful minds,” said Christine de Pizan. James Burge reviews the Medieval Women: In Their Own Words exhibition at the British Library, which features Christine among many other well- and less-known women, and finds that “this exhibition makes a powerful case in her support.” There was not a huge amount of documentary […]
TV review: Lessons in Chemistry
How well does bestselling historical fiction transfer to the TV screen? James Burge reviews Apple TV’s adaptation of Lessons in Chemistry and finds it “well-crafted, effective and intelligent”. Films and novels are very different things. Broadly speaking, a novel consists of dialogue, descriptions of action and the inner world of characters, and narration. When it […]
The history of history on television
Television – especially BBC TV – used to be an integral part of a family Christmas, with the nation (theoretically) gathered round the telly to watch the big film or the Queen’s Speech. All that’s history now. But what about the history of the Beeb itself in this, its 100th year, we asked the former […]
Review: Feminine power: the divine to the demonic
James Burge reviews the Feminine power: the divine to the demonic exhibition at the British Museum and finds contradiction, transgression and dazzling mental gymnastics in 4,000 years of art, faith and history from around the world. Visitors to this show are guided through a well-lit labyrinth, past a series of displays – one might almost […]
Review: The World of Stonehenge
The British Museum’s big exhibition for 2022 is the crowd-puller The World of Stonehenge, on until July. James Burge went to see it for Historia and found surprises, mystery, and exquisite displays. Stonehenge is probably the most famous mysteriously atmospheric building in the world. The monument’s celebrity is filling The World of Stonehenge exhibition at […]
TV review: The Windermere Children
The Windermere Children (BBC 2, 27 January, 2020) follows the true story of a group of children, recently freed from concentration camps who, in 1945, were brought to Windermere for four months of rehabilitation under the auspices of child psychologist Oscar Friedmann (Thomas Kretschmann) and philanthropist Leonard Montefiore (Tim McInnerny). Made to be transmitted on […]
TV review: The Crown, season 3
The timing couldn’t be better. The Crown(season 3)returns to TV screens in a week when the Royal Family is back in the headlines and the role of its members is once again being questioned. And with Olivia Colman in the title role, playing a very different kind of queen from the one she gave us […]
Review: Charles I: Downfall of a King
Charles I: Downfall of a King (BBC Four, 9 July, 2019) reviewed by James Burge for Historia magazine