Rob Spence

@Spencro
249 Followers
410 Following
241 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
Rob Spence46m ago
Just posted on First Folios: a look at The Complete Sherlock Holmes. https://open.substack.com/pub/rob611/p/the-complete-sherlock-holmes?
The Complete Sherlock Holmes

With added deerstalker

First Folios
Rob Spence5d ago
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

Rob Spence5d ago
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?
Rob Spence5d ago
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?
Rob Spence6d ago
Found postcard in a second-hand book purchase today. I endorse this message.
Rob SpenceMar 8
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
Rob SpenceFeb 27
Rob SpenceFeb 27
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
Show threadRob SpenceFeb 27
@sandhoferlitter It's a great example of what the Folio Society do best. Beautifully produced and copiously illustrated. Text by a leading expert.
Rob SpenceFeb 27
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
Show threadRob SpenceFeb 27
@kaggsy59 That’s one I’ve been meaning to read too! Thanks for that comprehensive review. I’m not sure Pound ever did apologise. And if you do go on to read Pound, be prepared for some very obscure stuff, more so than Eliot. I would start with Hugh Selwyn Mauberley, which is analogous to The Waste Land in Pound’s canon.