Book cover of The Gilded Page: The Secret Lives of Medieval Manuscripts

Book description

A breathtaking journey into the hidden history of medieval manuscripts, from the Lindisfarne Gospels to the ornate Psalter of Henry VIII

“A delight—immersive, conversational, and intensely visual, full of gorgeous illustrations and shimmering description.” –Helen Castor, author of She-Wolves

Medieval manuscripts can tell us much about power and art, knowledge…

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Why read it?

1 author picked The Gilded Page as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

This book is about medieval manuscripts, but those parchment pages are only the "portals that connect us to lives in the past." This book’s stories are, in fact, about the hands that wrote, illustrated, commissioned, collected, and composed those manuscripts.

Wellesley’s enthusiasm for the forensic study of the physical as well as textual past is infectious. She gently corrects popular assumptions about the Middle Ages (yes, women were involved in all aspects of book-making, from commissioning to composing to writing to illustrating), all the while dropping in delectable details that make you stop and think (the word "artist" doesn’t appear…

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Book cover of Aggressor

Aggressor by FX Holden,

It is April 1st, 2038. Day 60 of China's blockade of the rebel island of Taiwan.

The US government has agreed to provide Taiwan with a weapons system so advanced that it can disrupt the balance of power in the region. But what pilot would be crazy enough to run…

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