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History where there isn't by Sheena Wilkinson
There’s not much history in my immediate area. No, of course there is – I live in Northern Ireland; the place teems with history, most of it profoundly distressing. What I really mean is, you need to...
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THE BEAUTIFUL STITCH by Adèle Geras
There's an irony in the fact that I'm so enamoured of anything to do with embroidery. I am quite, quite useless at it. I know this because for the first few years of my time at boarding school we used...
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'The Powder Monkey and the Phycologist' by Karen Maitland
Anne Perriam There will be many famous women celebrated today, on International Women’s Day, who achieved amazing things in the arts, sciences, sports, medicine and politics, and we owe a great debt to...
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Socrates in Love
Armand D’Angour, Oxford professor of Classical languages and expert in ancient music, has just published a book called Socrates in Love. I, Caroline Lawrence, have just finished the first draft of a...
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Venice in the night – Michelle Lovric
All my best moments in Venice have been in the dark, on the water.I can never get enough of those journeys down back canals in small boats by night, when the city offers her most intimate, most secret...
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Lucy Osburn: Yorkshire lass and nightingale nurse
Lucy OsburnLUCY OSBURN – YORKSHIRE LASS AND NIGHTINGALE NURSELucy Osburn was a Yorkshire lass, a well-educated and cultured woman, who was to revolutionise nursing in Australia.She was born in Leeds in...
View ArticleFive years later:
by Antonia SeniorIn three weeks time, I will file my April round-up of historical fiction books for The Times. It will be five years exactly since my very first round-up appeared. In that time, I have...
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A Cumbrian Castle with hidden Jacobite history
by Deborah SwiftI'm really lucky in that I live close to many old houses and castles. One very close to my house is Sizergh Castle which has a fabulous tea room and lovely gardens.The name Sizergh...
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Trouble at t'Palace - by Lesley Downer
There’s a fable that every Japanese schoolchild knows. Three men are watching a nightingale, waiting to hear its beautiful song. But the nightingale stubbornly refuses to sing. What are they going to...
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Book Review: Susan Major, Female Railway Workers in World War II - by Fay...
In last month's blog I interviewed Susan Major, the author of the book I am reviewing today: Female Railway Workers in World War II. Readers also had a chance to win that book, by answering what two...
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New exhibition at the Mary Rose
I have just been reading about a new exhibition at the Mary Rose. It sounds fascinating stuff: researchers have used new techniques such as isotope analysis to find out an astonishing amount about the...
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LINCOLN CASTLE AND A GREAT ESCAPE by Penny Dolan
The prisoners walked into the city, away from the jail, and quickly mingledwith the crowds. They carried onup Lindum Hill and intothe Adam and Eve pub, right beside Lincoln’s great cathedral.This is...
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RESERVE- When History meet Hollywood by Sarah Gristwood
There’s been a bit of a boom in historical films recently - and I was lucky enough to get a preview of several at a film festival. Not, however, the one that’s attracted all the controversy: the new...
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The Terminators Part Two By L.J. Trafford
Last month I looked at the assassinations of three Romans: Julius Caesar, Caligula and Domitian. I examined the How, the Who and the Why of those murders and in doing so uncovered high principles, self...
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Inspirational homes (1) by Carolyn Hughes
“Inspirational homes” might put you in mind of a strapline blazoned across the front of a glossy interior décor magazine, but that’s not the sort of inspiration I’m going to talk about. In this post,...
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HNSA Conference 2019 - making a noise about historical fiction
Back in 2017, Gillian Polack interviewed me about my role as program director of the 2017 Historical Novel Society Australasia conference in Melbourne. Hard to believe that 2 years has passed. I'm...
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Stories From the City of the Dead by Catherine Hokin
Going out-out - the big night out that demands special clothes and a day off to recover - is one of those phrases I would never willingly use (along with party as a verb). I am, however, now tempted to...
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King’s Residence or Riot Control? - by Judith Allnatt
In the Northamptonshire village of Weedon, where I live, there stands an imposing garrison that shipped out arms to Wellington’s forces in the Napoleonic wars. As well as the massive storehouses still...
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STANDING ON THE SHOULDERS OF GIANTS: How tall were the people of Medieval...
Medieval people were small and weedy right?Here's a list from the London and Middlesex Archaeology Society's publication The Cemetery of St Nicholas Shambles. The cemetery, now occupied by the British...
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Strawberry Hill by Miranda Miller
Last month I was lucky enough to catch the last day of an exhibition called Lost Treasures of Strawberry Hill. Horace Walpole was a great original, the son of Robert Walpole, a powerful, corrupt...
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