Rob Spence

@Spencro
251 Followers
411 Following
240 Posts
Former Eng Lit academic. I am interested in all sorts of literature, especially modern and contemporary literary fiction. I have written about Ford Madox Ford, Louis de Bernieres, Wyndham Lewis, Penelope Fitzgerald, Robert Nye, but mainly about Anthony Burgess, a fellow Mancunian. Trying to learn Italian.
Websitehttps://robspence.org.uk/
Reviewshttps://shinynewbooks.co.uk/
BlueSky@spencro.bsky.social
Instagramvictorcrabbe
My latest dispatch from fifty years ago, this time going all medieval:
https://robspence.org.uk/2026/03/15/middling-english/
Middling English – Dr Rob Spence

A publisher's email newsletter begins its description of a new book "Beloved by readers on TikTok..." Is this supposed to convince me to buy it?
Just posted on First Folios: a look at Keith Thomas's magnificent Religion and the Decline of Magic.
https://open.substack.com/pub/rob611/p/religion-and-the-decline-of-magic?
Found postcard in a second-hand book purchase today. I endorse this message.
Latest from me on First Folios: Marlowe's Doctor Faustus. https://open.substack.com/pub/rob611/p/doctor-faustus?
Doctor Faustus

Cut is the branch that might have grown full straight

First Folios
Latest at First Folios: Shakespeare's Life and World. https://open.substack.com/pub/rob611/p/katherine-duncan-jones-shakespeares?
Katherine Duncan-Jones, Shakespeare's Life and World

A superb account of the worlds of Shakespeare

First Folios
Latest at First Folios: Shakespeare's Life and World. https://open.substack.com/pub/rob611/p/katherine-duncan-jones-shakespeares?
Katherine Duncan-Jones, Shakespeare's Life and World

A superb account of the worlds of Shakespeare

First Folios

‘Flaming Passion’ in Orkney 100 Years Ago

In the Orkney of 1926 the cold and miserable weather of February was cast aside as cinema goers to the Kirkwall picture house were thrilled at the on screen performance of the stars of 'Flaming Passion'. Made in 1923, the silent movie, 'Flaming Passion', aka 'Lucretia Lombard'  starred Irene Rich, Monte Blue, and a young Norma Shearer, just prior to her signing with 

https://theorkneynews.scot/2026/02/24/flaming-passion-in-orkney-100-years-ago/

‘Flaming Passion’ in Orkney 100 Years Ago

In the Orkney of 1926 the cold and miserable weather of February was cast aside as cinema goers to the Kirkwall picture house were thrilled at the on screen performance of the stars of ‘Flami…

The Orkney News
Grim reading, but Ukraine remains defiant. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cd9g2ggq4epo
Bowen: Why Ukraine remains defiant and does not feel close to defeat

This month marks four gruelling years since the full‑scale invasion began and a genuine ceasefire still feels far from assured

BBC News