2020 in Books

It's that time of year again, when I list all the words I managed to read. For some reason, this year there's a fair few more of them...

Books read- 36
Pages read- 15,950
Target- 35 (amended up from 27 because, you know, lockdown)

• Fiction/Non-fiction ratio- 10:26- A better year for fiction, but only marginally...

• Longest Book- A History of Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years, 1184 pages.

• Shortest Book- The Ascent of Rum Doodle, 192 pages.

• Quickest Read- A three way tie between The Ascent of Rum Doodle, Stasi Child and Just Mercy, each of which took me three days.

• Longest Read- KL: A History of the Nazi Concentration Camps, August 2019-August 2020.

• Most Read Authors- A tie this time: Diarmaid MacCulloch, one his book on the English Reformation under Edward VI, and the other his mammoth history of Christianity, and two John le Carre novels.

• Ebooks-  KL: A History of the Nazi Concentration Camps, Stasi Child, The Road to Unfreedom: Russia, Europe, America, Left Out: The Inside Story of Labour Under Corbyn, Norton of Everest: Soldier and Mountaineer, Providence Lost: The Rise and Fall of the English Republic, The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper, The Norman Conquest, Tudor Church Militant: Edward VI and the Protestant Reformation.

• Audio books- La Belle Sauvage, First Man In: Leading from the Front.

• Useless Fact-A grand total of four other people read the biography of Edward Norton. 367,424 others read Just Mercy.

The List

• The President is Missing, Bill Clinton and James Paterson
• The Long '68: Radical Protest and its Enemies, Richard Vinen
• Where Power Stops: The Making and Unmaking of Presidents and Prime Ministers, David Runciman
• Austerity Britain, 1945-51, David Kynaston
• The Black Death: An Intimate Story of a Village in Crisis, 1345-1350, John Hatcher
• Piers the Ploughman, William Langland
• The Mirror and the Light, Hilary Mantel
• The Ascent of Rum Doodle, W.E. Bowman
• Gorbachev: His Life and Times, William Taubman
• Selling Hitler: The Story of the Hitler Diaries, Robert Harris
• The Ministry of Nostalgia, Owen Hatherley
• Excalibur, Bernard Cornwell 
• A Most Wanted Man, John le Carre
• La Belle Sauvage, Philip Pullman
• Doctor Who: Fear of the Dark, Trevor Baxendale
• The English Civil War: A People's History, Diane Purkiss
• Born in the GDR: Living in the Shadow of the Wall, Hester Vaizey
• The Edge of the World: How the North Sea Made Us Who We Are, Michael Pye
• My Life, Our Times, Gordon Brown
• Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption, Bryan Stevenson
• Hidden Histories: A Spotter's Guide to the British Landscape, Mary-Ann Ochota
• First Man In: Leading from the Front, Ant Middleton 
• KL: A History of the Nazi Concentration Camps, Nikolaus Wachsmann
• Stasi Child, David Young
• A History of Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years, Diarmaid MacCulloch
• The Road to Unfreedom: Russia, Europe, America, Timothy Snyder
• Left Out: The Inside Story of Labour Under Corbyn, Gabriel Pogrund and Patrick Maguire
• The Brothers York: An English Tragedy, Thomas Penn
• Norton of Everest: Soldier and Mountaineer, Hugh Norton
• Providence Lost: The Rise and Fall of the English Republic, Paul Lay
• Stranger Than We Can Imagine: Making Sense of the Twentieth Century, John Higgs
• The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper, Hallie Rubenhold
• Between the Sunset and the Sea: A View of 16 British Mountains, Simon Ingram
• The Norman Conquest, Marc Morris
• Tudor Church Militant: Edward VI and the Protestant Reformation, Diarmaid MacCulloch
• Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, John le Carre

Death at the Altar

On this day 850 years ago, in 1170, Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury, was murdered by four knights inside Canterbury Cathedral itself. It was an event which appalled medieval Christendom, elevated Becket to sainthood, and left a deep impression on the English imagination.

 

Lestnytgh, lordynges, bothe grete and smale,
I xal you telyn a wonder tale,
How Holy Cherche was browt in bale
Cum magna iniuria.

The greteste clerk of al this lond,
Of Cauntyrbury, ye understonde,
Slawyn he was with wykkyd hond,
Demonis potencia.

Knytes kemyn fro Henry kyng,
Wykkyd men, withoute lesyng;
Ther they dedyn a wonder thing,
Ferventes insania.

They sowntyn hym al abowtyn,
Withine the paleys and withoutyn;
Of Jhesu Cryst hadde they non dowte
In sua malicia.

They openyd here mowthis wonder wyde:
To Thomas they spokyn mekyl pryde,
'Here, tretour, thou xalt abide,
Ferens mortis tedia.'

Thomas answerid with mylde chere,
'If ye wil me slon in this manere,
Let hem pasyn, alle tho arn here,
Sine contumilia.'

Beforn his aunter he knelyd adoun;
Ther they gunne to paryn his crown;
He sterdyn the braynys up and doun,
Optans celi gaudia.

The turmentowres abowtyn sterte;
With dedly wondys thei gunne him hurte.
Thomas deyid in Moder Cherche
Pergens ad celestia.

Moder, clerk, wedue and wyf,
Worchepe ye Thomas in al your lyf;
For lii poyntes he les his lyf,
Contra regis consilia.

 

 A medieval English carol, recorded in the 15th century MS Sloane 2593. Translation from https://aclerkofoxford.blogspot.com/2011/12/song-for-st-thomas-becket.html?m=1

 

Listen, lords, both great and small,
I shall you tell a wonderous tale,
How Holy Church was brought in bale [into sorrow]
By a great wrong.

The greatest cleric in all this land,
Of Canterbury, you understand,
Slain he was with wicked hand,
By the power of the devil.

Knights came from Henry the king,
Wicked men, without lying;
There they did a terrible thing,
Raging in madness.

They sought for him all about,
Within the palace and without;
Of Jesu Christ had they no thought
In their wickedness.

They opened their mouths very wide:
To Thomas they spoke in their great pride,
'Here, traitor, thou shalt abide,
To suffer the pain of death.

Thomas answered with mild chere, [in a meek manner]
'If ye will me slay in this manner,
Let them go, all those who are here,
Without injury.'

Before his altar he kneeled down;
There they began to cut off his crown;
They stirred the brains up and down;
He hoped for the joys of heaven.

The tormentors began their work;
With deadly wounds they began to hurt.
Thomas died in Mother Church
Attaining to heaven.

Mothers, clerics, widows and wives,
Worship Thomas all your lives;
For 52 points he lost his life,
Against the king's counsels

Alternatively, watch Brian Blessed in The Black Adder do much the same thing.