Christine Vasey’s presentation on A. E. Housman was delivered with verve and humour, and it was well-illustrated by readings of his poems and relevant music. Housman is best-known for his collection of poems, ‘A Shropshire Lad’, though he did not spend much of his time in that county. However, Shropshire represented a sort of rural…
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One could think of some modern politicians who might have said this, but it is in fact the utterance of an Egyptian warlord of 4000 years ago. Ankhtifi, an important figure in the First Intermediate Period, was obviously no shrinking violet, as this statement was a regular refrain amongst the rather grandiose claims to be…
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Party-poppers and bangs are not normally features of SUES meetings, but it was appropriate that our recent talk on ‘Violent Volcanoes’ by Hazel Clark ended with a demonstration which displayed both. The topic, as did the one at our last meeting, illustrated our attempt to broaden the scope of our talks to include a greater…
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At our meeting on 27th July Peter Firth presented a talk on Martin Luther. As well as being complete in itself, it also served as an introduction to Peter’s seven-session course on the Reformation in Europe, starting in September. This was the last meeting of the 2018-19 season and our first at a new venue,…
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At our last meeting we were pleased to attend a lecture by Kathleen ‘O’ Leary on the novelist Jane Austen. Amply aided and abetted by her husband, David, Kate gave us an insight into the life and works of Jane Austen. It was interesting to note that her first novel, ‘Sense and Sensibility’ was published…
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There was another encouraging turn-out for our meeting on 12th April, at which Kate O’Leary and her husband, David, talked to us about Jane Austen. The opening section dealt with the appearance of Jane Austen, as derived from written descriptions and pictures. This was a tantalising quest, as no portrait can be regarded as absolutely…
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This might have sounded a rather daunting title for a lecture, but Peter Firth’s presentation was anything but melancholic. At its heart it involved a detailed – and fascinating – examination of two works of art. One was a wall painting from an English parish church, the other a devotional table designed by Hieronymus Bosch…
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Today, we had a most informative talk on the subject one of Liverpool’s most prominent nineteenth century philanthropists, David Lewis. Our own John Sharp told us of the life of this most remarkable man. He started life as David Levy, the son of a London Jewish tailor, but instead of joining the family business, in…
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At our meeting on 23rd February we had another fascinating lecture from Paul Lawrence: this time the subject was Pompeii. The interest in this location stems, of course, from the volcanic eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD, an event which was recorded by ancient writers and which had the effect of preserving a moment…
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Paul Lawrence lived for several years in Istanbul and is, therefore, ideally placed to paint a portrait of this most fascinating of cities. SUES benefited from his knowledge and insight at our last meeting, when he made a compelling presentation, backed up with well-chosen photographs and informative maps. Istanbul has a long history, starting its…
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