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These are not the hands - Michelle Lovric
I’m making this short, as Covid-brain has inoculated me with attention deficit disorder, hop-skipping eyes and a dislike of detail. I don’t believe I am speaking just for myself when I say that I...
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Pigeon Post by Judith Allnatt
Communication was no easy matter during World War One. There’s an old joke about a message that originated as ‘Send reinforcements; we’re going to advance’ but which eventually arrived as ‘Send three...
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TALLYING IT ALL UP by ELIZABETH CHADWICK
Tally sticks have been around for many thousands of years. They are a form of record-keeping made by carving notches on lengths of wood or bone. Such items have been found dating back to the...
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The Battle for Hampstead Heath by Miranda Miller
This 1821 painting by Constable, Hampstead Heath with Pond and Bathers, shows what this glorious open space meant to Londoners for centuries. I’ve taken it for granted all my life but in fact we...
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Marseille, snapshots of a mighty city, by Carol Drinkwater
Marseille's harbour by night as seen from our hotel roomI have recently been on an excursion to Marseille. It is a little less than two hours west of our...
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Whipsnade Zoo in World War Two by Janie Hampton
Whipsnade Zoo Keeper ploughing paddocks with Dixie the elephant, 1940. Source: Zoo and Animal Magazine, 1939/40. Lucy Pendar’s father, Albert, was the Resident Engineer of Whipsnade Zoo, a 500-acre...
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Santa Claus is not just for Christmas - by Ruth Downie
The title of this post may seem oddly unseasonal, but in addition to his December activities, St Nicholas has a year-round commitment as a protector of sailors. In fact, according to...
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The English Girl behind the Private Life of the Third Reich By Jane Thynne
Writers of fiction set in the second world war are basically gold prospectors. We sieve endlessly through the dry dust of contemporary documents and records for the occasional, vivid, thrilling glint...
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Historians and History in Fiction, by Gillian Polack
Right now, I’m not in the Middle Ages. I’m in the seventeenth century. An important part of my research is looking at whether one novelist in particular frames her seventeenth century story so tightly...
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ALL THAT GLITTERS … by Susan Stokes-Chapman
Anyone familiar with the Georgian period will either think of the seedy underbelly of eighteenth-century London, or (more typically) the glittering ballrooms of the Regency ton. Certainly, the rise of...
View ArticleMaking Music Visible Part 1 - Norman McLaren - by Joan Lennon
I'm proud to be a History Girl. But I'm also a Historical Girl, in so far as many things I grew up with are now considered History. One of those things was the National Film Board of Canada,* home to...
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Something Old by Sheena Wilkinson
1. Christening RobeIt was ivory, with frills. Not quite exquisite lace – nylon had just come in. Daddy wore it in 1946; I wore it in 1968 and my sister in 1969. Bundled to the back of the hotpress to...
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EVENTS, DEAR BOY, EVENTS..... by Adèle Geras
There really is no excuse, so I am going to come clean. It's been so long since I posted on this blog that I had forgotten completely that it was my turn to write a piece for yesterday and I am...
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"As Kingfishers Catch Fire" by Karen Maitland
'Looking for Fish' A common kingfisher in EnglandPhoto: Tony WoodHave you noticed that animals and birds never seem to read the books about how they are supposed to behave? According to the bird books,...
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The Red Prince by Mary Hoffman
Helen Carr's The Red Prince: The Life of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster reviewed by Mary HoffmanIf you are a student of Medieval history, the Wars of the Roses or the Plantagenets, you will be...
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To Autumn: a celebration of nature’s golden season. By Caroline K. Mackenzie.
© Caroline K. Mackenzie‘Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness’. So begins Keats’ beautiful ode ‘To Autumn’, the first poem I ever learned by heart. Our English teacher at school had asked us each to...
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Historical Fiction: Ways to keep your inner muse inspired
by Deborah SwiftI have been writing for quite a number of years now and in that time the publishing landscape has changed enormously. I am now reliably informed by Google that there are 2,700 books...
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Rodin and the Little Japanese Dancer by Lesley Downer
‘It was impossible to hold this look for such a long time. I couldn’t help moving a little bit, and M. Rodin said, “Not so much Hanako, not so much.”’HanakoIn 1906 Auguste Rodin (1840-1917) was 67 and...
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Doubts of a Dress Historian
by Susan VincentFashion plate,'A Sea Coast Promenade Fashion', La Belle Assemblee, 1 October 1809, V&A Museum, London, Given by the House of Worth, Accession number: E.22396:496-1957. Photo:...
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Adventures in plant hunting - Sue Purkiss
Some of you may recall that I have an interest in the history of plants, and particularly in the extraordinary adventures of the plant hunters. (To find previous posts on the subject, just put: Sue...
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