The past is never dead, it isn’t even past
There is much legend associated with her life as a poisoner, and like all novelists do, I have taken the aspects of the story I liked best, and used a combination or research and imagination to fill the gaps. For the most succinct and detailed analysis of the real...
The Italian proverb ‘Old sins have long shadows’ is tactfully used at the beginning of Deborah Swift’s sequel The Silkworm Keeper. Where Swift’s first book in the series, The Poison Keeper, exhibits the nefarious activities of poisoner Giuila Tofana, the sequel sees...
On December 9th 2020, the German Chancellor Angela Merkel gave a speech to the Federal Parliament: ‘I believe in the power of the Enlightenment.’ She said, ‘If Europe is what it is, it must thank the Enlightenment and the idea thereby derived that there is a...
In 1308, the exiled Florentine poet Dante Alighieri described how, midway through his life, he found himself lost amidst a dark wood, with no sign of a path. He had no idea how he had arrived where he was. His mind was fogged; it was as if he had woken from a deep...
The preamble to the American Declaration of Independence, drafted by Thomas Jefferson and revised by Congress, declares that all men have certain 'unalienable Rights', including 'Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness'. This was the culmination of a century of...
Books Click on any of the books covers below to either buy or get more information on Amazon Articles 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 Life and Times of Rodrigo Borgia: Pope Alexander VI, by Arnold H Mathew. An account of the Borgia who became Pope.
Raphael: A portrait of the Artist, by Henry Strachey. A classic study of Raphael, essential reading for those interested in Renaissance art.
Machiavelli's Shirt ‘And what rough beast, its hour come round at last, Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?’ W B Yeats, The Second Coming. ‘How could I possibly tell you what the sermon was about? You know that I never listen to such things.’ Machiavelli, in a...
What first attracted you to the period or periods you work in? My interest in the Mediterranean world goes back a long way. My father was a naval officer who was based there in peace and in war. When I was nine he was stationed on Malta and I went out for holidays. I...
