John, The painter

JOHN THE PAINTER
the first modern terrorist
by Jessica Warner
Historian Simon Schama was more enthusiastic about his carefully researched work, describing it as a 'rich, ambitious history, executed in literary fire works : a small glory and a joy to read'.
This book's anti hero trained as a house painter but could not find work, so he tramped the country looking for work , his jobs became house breaking and pick pocketing. After a two years of spell in America, he became an impassioned supporter of the American Revolution.
His first act of terror , on returning to England in 1776 , was to try to burn down Portsmouth Dockyard . Unlucky for him , only the rope house was destroyed. Next, he set some fires in Bristol. The country was terrified and the news papers carried full of scare stories. Was he acting alone or part of a gang? Who were his American Masters? At the height of the scare , King George III was being briefed daily, and offered a huge reward for the miscreant;s capture.
The Bow street runners were sent in pursuit. Would the terrorist be caught or would the Royal dockyards be destroyed and the British war effort in America come to a grinding halt?

Discourses on Art

DISCOURSES ON ART
Sir Joshua Reynolds
.by Robert Wark
Sir Joshua Reynolds’ discourses on art ‘forms one of the most eloquent literary documents in the history of the European art. Composed as lectures to the students at the Royal Academy in the late eighteenth century, they both summarise the art theory of the previous 300 years and point towards the attitudes prevalent in the nineteenth century. His general topic is the education of the artist and he is concerned with the essentials of the problem he tackles: the purpose of art, the nature of the creative process and the artist’s relation to tradition. Long recognized as the fundamental text for the study of the eighteenth century English painting, this edition is generally considered to be the definitive.

Light house to Monk's house

FROM THE LIGHT HOUSE TO MONK’S HOUSE
A guide to Virginia Woolf’s literary landscapes
By Katherine Hill Miller
Divided into five chapters, in each we are introduced to the book in question and the author’s circumstances while writing it. Then we are taken to the locations and given an interpretive guide, which relates the place to the work. We begin with St. Ives, Cornwall, where Virginia Woolf spent many childhood summers, and whose bay, beach and Victorian interiors provide the backdrop to the lighthouse. Then we visit London, in particular Kensington, where she grew up and which provides the centre stage in Mrs. Dalloway, then we are off to the grand country seat at Knoll in Kent, home of the Villa Sackville West , both her and the house being the chief inspirations of Orlando. It is Cambridge, our next stop, the setting for a room of one’s own and finally Rodmell in East Sussex, the location for Leonard and Virginia’s home Monica’s house and this is the location for ‘Between the acts’. Each chapter includes a traveler’s guide to the places featured in the books. How to hire a boat to get to the light house , tour Cambridge in Woolf’s foot steps etc. with the plenty of notes in it , this book is not only an essential introduction to her books, but also a fascinating tour around both the places and the author’s thinking process.