Richard Francis

Henry Tilney, a younger son and beneficed clergyman, defies his father in a scene from Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey

A single man of no fortune must be in want of a job: younger sons in Jane Austen’s England

Richard Francis 24 August 2019 9:00 am

Readers of Jane Austen gain a clear idea of the task facing the daughters of gentlemen. They need to secure…

Detail of ‘Penn’s Treaty with the Indians’ by Benjamin West. Though William Penn was celebrated for his humane treatment of Native Americans, his heirs swindled the Lenape out of a million acres of territory

Should William Penn be shaking in his grave?

Richard Francis 12 January 2019 9:00 am

The ultimate driving force of William Penn’s adult life is inaccessible, as the Quaker phrase ‘Inner Light’ suggests. While a…

The best sort of magic realism — from Michael Fishwick

Richard Francis 25 March 2017 9:00 am

Michael Fishwick’s new novel tells the story of a young man called Robbie, who has been uprooted from his London…

A tribe of one's own

Richard Francis 9 July 2016 9:00 am

In his preface Sebastian Junger tells us that this book grew out of an earlier article. It obviously didn’t grow…

Even the appearance of a lone wolf at Salem was enough to trigger accusations of witchcraft

Has Salem bewitched Stacy Schiff?

Richard Francis 7 November 2015 9:00 am

There have been many books devoted to the terrible events that took place in the small rural community of Salem…