This week the civilised world has been marking the fourth centenary of the death of William Shakespeare, poet, playwright and businessman. Universally admired he may be, but his works have suffered many vicissitudes over the years. The man himself began as a poet in a classical sense. The dramas came perhaps as a way of…

Dissonant Voices: Faith and the Irish Diaspora edited by Conn McGahhann (Institute for Theological Partnerships Publishing, £10.00) This book presents a selection of the papers read at a conference held in the London Irish Centre two years ago. Diaspora is given a very wide interpretation for the topics range from the 17th Century exiles in Europe,…

Our Lady of the Nations: Apparitions of Mary in 20th Century Catholic Europe by Chris Maunder (Oxford University Press, £25.00) Marian shrines are of great antiquity. At Knaresborough near Harrogate in England a small shrine, dedicated to Our Lady of the Crags, still survives. Built by John the Mason in 1408, and now the property of…

Bad Queen Bess: Libels, Secret Histories, and the Politics of Publicity in the Reign of Elizabeth I by Peter Lake (Oxford University Press, £35.00) It is often remarked that in modern Britain all that children learn of history are the Tudors and the Nazis. This is meagre diet, but there are universal truths to be learned…

There has been renewed talk lately about fixing the date of Easter, rather than continuing with it as a moveable feast. This is the sort of idea that the appeals to both the tidy minded and the sort of person who believes that Sunday trading is good for the economy, however damaging yet another day…