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British Library
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- 1Readers revisit Paul Theroux's coastal journey around Britain●Random book from our personal library: 📖 The Kingdom by the Sea: A Journey Around Great Britain by Paul Theroux # bookst
Book lovers are highlighting Paul Theroux's 1983 travelogue 'The Kingdom by the Sea: A Journey Around Great Britain', in which the American writer travels around the entire British coastline by train and foot. A reader shared it from a personal library, prompting conversation about Theroux's sharp, sometimes unflattering portrait of Thatcher-era Britain and whether his observations still hold up today.
- 2How Britain's richest collectors bought Europe's looted monastic books▼When Europe’s monastic libraries were looted, Britain’s richest book collectors went hunting
A new historical account examines how, when monasteries across Europe were dissolved or plundered and their libraries dispersed, wealthy British collectors stepped in to acquire rare medieval manuscripts. The piece traces how treasures from looted continental religious houses ended up in Britain's grandest private collections, reshaping the market for antiquarian books and raising lasting questions about how such holdings were obtained.