The past is never dead, it isn’t even past
Barney White-Spunner, what first attracted you to the period or periods you work in? Personal experience. I have been very lucky in that my military career has exposed me to events and places which I want to understand in greater depth. Being a soldier also gives you...
Five Books By My Bed Maybe holidaying at home will give me more time to read this summer. I do hope so. I have never found the Mediterranean combination of sun and sand to be very hard back friendly but hopefully this year the garden and coastal breezes of the West...
Its every young person’s dream -- to find out that one of your relations has a secret but fascinating past, and that they want to take you on a road trip through Europe to reveal all. This is the premise of The Diplomat's Wife, and the journey is every bit as exciting...
HMS Belfast - the Town-class light cruiser, originally launched in 1938 is open to visitors once more. The vessel saw convoy duty, survived the Battle of North Cape and took part in the destruction of the Scharnhorst during WW2. The Belfast has long been moored on the...
58 years ago JFK gave one of his best speeches. Speaking to huge crowds in West Berlin, he called on the free world to stand by Berliners divided by the Berlin Wall and threatened by their Communist neighbours. “All free men, wherever they may live, are citizens of...
Summer Reads from Aspects of HistoryPaul BernardiTaking a well-earned break from the adventures of Beobrand in his much-loved Bernicia Chronicles series, Matthew Harffy moves forward the best part of one hundred and fifty years in this, his most recent and...
Books Click on any of the books covers below to either buy or get more information on Amazon Book Reviews[dpdfg_filtergrid custom_query="advanced" multiple_cpt="book_reviews" use_taxonomy_terms="on" multiple_taxonomies="name_of_author" include_terms="222"...
Books on Bond 5 - Ian Fleming, by Andrew Lycett, 1995. Lycett is an accomplished and celebrated literary biographer; his books on Kipling, Dylan Thomas and Wilkie Collins are close to definitive. He brings the same levels of research and insight to his book on...
Detailed yet pacy, insightful and informative, Richard Greene (no relation) has written a thoroughly enjoyable one-volume biography of Graham Greene. The novelist has attracted plenty of labels over the years: Catholic, communist, womaniser, depressive, genius. What...
This is the true story of Agent Sonya – wife, mother and Soviet spy. Ursula Kuczynski was born into a secular Jewish family in Germany. Like many Jews of her generation, there was no choice in 1930s Europe in the ideological struggle between Communism and Fascism. It...
