An Unofficial 'The Rest Is History' Reading List

211. London: People (Part 3)

July 20, 2022

Description

Welcome to the third episode in our new mini-series: LONDON WEEK. From Monday to Friday we're releasing an episode daily. Monday's 'Londinium' and Thursday's 'Haunted London' are live episodes we...
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Books Referenced

Pamela

Author: Samuel Richardson

Context:

Mentioned as 'the big book of the day' and described as 'a sort of epistolary novel' and 'one of the first, if not the first, novels in English' - discussed as the book that Henry Fielding later parodied

Shamala

Author: Henry Fielding

Context:

Described as a 'spoof' and 'parody' of Pamela that Henry Fielding wrote, noted as being 'very successful'

Joseph Andrews

Author: Henry Fielding

Context:

Mentioned as another book by Fielding, described as being about 'supposedly her cousin' (referring to Pamela's cousin)

Tom Jones

Author: Henry Fielding

Context:

Described as Fielding's 'masterpiece' written at the end of the 1740s, called 'a book that everybody should read' - an 'absolutely uproarious, rumbustious, really fun book, brilliantly written, sort of picaresque'

Jonathan Wilde

Author: Henry Fielding

Context:

Mentioned as one of Fielding's works that satirizes Walpole, described as being 'about a thief taker' where 'Jonathan Wilde is a kind of metaphor for Walpole'

A Proposal for Making an Effectual Provision for the Poor

Author: Henry Fielding

Context:

Described as 'a sort of blueprint' Fielding wrote at the beginning of the 1750s proposing a workhouse system to rehabilitate poor Londoners

Memoirs

Author: Kingsley Amis

Context:

Referenced as 'a Kingsley Amis novel' where 'the plot slightly revolves around' a character being invited to Lisbon to deliver a Henry Fielding lecture - specific title not mentioned

The Lion House Golem

Author: Peter Ackroyd

Context:

Mentioned as a novel written by Peter Ackroyd connected to Dan Leno (likely referring to 'Dan Leno and the Limehouse Golem')

The Black Jacobins

Author: C.L.R. James

Context:

Described as 'a book that's still very, very famous, incredibly readable' about Toussaint Louverture and the Haitian revolution, called 'the definitive account of the Haitian revolution' for decades

Beyond the Boundary

Author: C.L.R. James

Context:

Described as James's 'great masterpiece' and 'widely held to be not just the best book on cricket, but one of the best books on sport ever written' - discussed extensively as a work of post-colonial literature

More Than a Game: The Story of Cricket's Early Years

Author: John Major

Context:

Referenced as 'a history of cricket' written by John Major, described as 'very good'

My Old Man: A Personal History of Music Hall

Author: John Major

Context:

Referenced as 'a history of the musical' written by John Major, with an anecdote about his father mentioned from the book's beginning