Illustration of a Medieval Scribe

Literature

Line engraving depicting the burning of Rawlins White, c1555. From a late 18th-century edition of John Foxe's 'The Book of Martyrs'. (Alamy)

The Making of Martyrs. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A portrait of Geoffrey Chaucer from an early 15th-century manuscript of the poem ‘De Regimine Principum’ by Thomas Hoccleve. (Photo by Universal History Archive/Getty Images)

The LibraryChaucer and the idea of Englishness. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Charles Dickens: his life and works. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The LibraryA new history of England and the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

My history hero: Samuel Johnson (1709-84). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The making of the King James Bible. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

My history hero: Abba Kovner (1918–87). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Robert Burns: the people’s poet. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

John Leland: The man who saved medieval knowledge. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The plague, Sir Walter Ralegh and Jerusalem. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

American author Samuel Langhorne Clemens (1835-1910) who wrote under the pseudonym of Mark Twain, standing outside on a porch. (Photo by Time Life Pictures/Mansell/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images)

Mark Twain: America’s historical conscience?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The motivations behind Viking raids and the life of Dr Johnson. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Robert Burns and Francis Bacon. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.