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Thomas Messel

Thomas Messel

The novelist discusses writing and his ancestor, Elizabeth Linley.

Thomas Messel, what first attracted you to the period or periods you work in? The focus of my study was a late eighteenth-century ancestor called Elizabeth Linley. I was aware that she eloped with and married the playwright Richard Brinsley Sheridan, but initially, I...

Elizabeth Linley, 1754-1792

Elizabeth Linley, 1754-1792

The story singer and the beacon of the Whig party.

Elizabeth Linley at the age of seventeen is England’s most celebrated singer. Her beauty and voice can captivate the King, or send an audience into a state of wild infectious hysteria, but suddenly and mysteriously she disappears during the night of March the 18th...

Thomas Messel

Thomas Messel

Thomas Messel has for forty years been a leading English furniture designer. He is also the author of two books. His non-fiction Oliver Messel in the Theatre of Design (Winner of the Speares Book Award 2012) was a comprehensive study of the life and work of his uncle, Oliver Messel. His current book, The Nightingale of Bath, is a historical fiction covering the life of his eighteenth-century ancestor, the singer and beacon of the Whig party, Elizabeth Linley.
Thomas Messel

Books Click on any of the books covers below to either buy or get more information on AmazonArticles Click on the links below to read the full article[dpdfg_filtergrid custom_query="advanced" use_taxonomy_terms="on" multiple_taxonomies="name_of_author"...

The History behind The Bratinsky Affair

The History behind The Bratinsky Affair

Exile and loss permeate Ireland’s history and its people’s relationship with Europe, themes to which the author anchors his debut novel.

The History behind The Bratinsky Affair "It is not the wimpled version of history that is interesting but its brutality." - Hilary Mantel The story of Countess Irina Bratinsky, née O’Rourke de Breffny, has its roots in the religious wars of 17th-century Ireland and...

Echoing Greens: How Cricket Shaped the English Imagination, by Brendan Cooper

Echoing Greens: How Cricket Shaped the English Imagination, by Brendan Cooper

A rich quarry for artists and writers alike, the psychology and morals of an era can be unearthed from cricket's plotlines and characters.

Echoing Greens: How Cricket Shaped the English Imagination, by Brendan Cooper It is now a cliché - perhaps always has been - to refer to cricket as a rich quarry for artistic achievement, even as mainstream coverage becomes less fixated on the written word and more...

2025 Summer Reads from Aspects of History

2025 Summer Reads from Aspects of History

Our authors and contributors recommend books to take on summer holidays.

Summer Reads from Aspects of HistoryLucy Ashe Author of The Sleeping BeautiesThe Eights is Joanna Miller’s debut novel that combines fascinating historical research with the creation of four compelling female characters, The Eights is set at St Hugh’s College, Oxford,...

Winding Down at the Chalke Hist Fest

Winding Down at the Chalke Hist Fest

After five days onsite, the weekend is a chance to go easy on the talks and soak up the sun.
Zebedee Baker-Smith

Winding Down at the Chalke Hist Fest - Saturday & Sunday This was the day that sapped me, the closeness of the heat unendurable and getting oneself up for another talk tricky as the crowds swarmed to Broad Chalke in their droves. The cool mornings, however, have...

Reinforcements arrive at the Chalke Hist Fest

Reinforcements arrive at the Chalke Hist Fest

Zeb meets up with his editor and board members.
Zebedee Baker-Smith

Reinforcements arrive at the Chalke Hist Fest 5 - Friday It had been a relatively late one as the campsite dragged itself up and back to it. The antics seemed to be crescendoing into the weekend. Having spent a pleasant evening in the company of Aspects of History’s...

CHF 2025: Day 5

CHF 2025: Day 5

The Pub Landlord ended off a fabulous day at Chalke.

CHF 2025: Day 5 UKRAINE: THE LATEST LIVE – WITH NOBEL PEACE PRIZE WINNER OLEKSANDRA MATVIICHUK, Oleksandra Matviichuk w. Francis Dearnley, Dominic Nicholls and Adelie Pojzman-Pontay The incredible team behind The Telegraph’s award-winning podcast were on stage to...

Camping at the Chalke Hist Fest

Camping at the Chalke Hist Fest

Michael Gove is in Zeb's firing line.
Zebedee Baker-Smith

Chalke Hist Fest 4 - Thursday It’s all become routine now – more or less six years without having camped and I’ve surprised myself by enjoying it! The warm showers and the Kiwi coffee van twenty metres away lures me out in the morning, a couple of protein ‘crisps’ and...