The past is never dead, it isn’t even past
The central character in Shadow of the Axeand the five Queen's Intelligencer novels that follow it* is Robert Poley. Like many of the other characters in the books, including especially Elizabeth’s darling, the Earl of Essex, Robert Poley does make an appearance in...
The Fourth Queen is Nicola Cornick’s latest Tudor historical fiction, set in the aftermath of the 1539 dissolution of the monasteries under King Henry VIII. Whilst Cornick is perhaps best known for her time-slip novels, The Fourth Queen takes a slightly different...
What attracted you to the time and place you write about? I wrote a minor thesis on the influence of traditional English drama on Shakespeare for my BA then expanded it for my MA. Shakespeare’s times have fascinated me ever since, in terms of the drama, the setting,...
Anne Boleyn always steals the limelight. Katherine Howard’s story is both dramatic and pitiful. Jane Seymour dies after giving birth to an heir – the ultimate sacrifice. Katherine of Aragon is a fighter, and Katherine Parr is the Queen who outlived Henry VIII. Where...
Over the last six years, Aspects of History has brought you the best historical writing from established and new authors alike, whether non-fiction or fiction. So we are now excited to outline a new chapter for the Aspects of History Substack. Our website has grown...
Monarchs Anonymous is a fun, frenetic show that should appeal to a variety of ages. The premise is a therapy session involving multiple monarchs. The figures taking part are Marie Antionette, Mansa Musa, Charles II, Henry VIII and Princess Sophia Duleep Singh....
The passing of time has a strange way in these parts. As the carnyces sound around site, WW2 jeeps swing by, Celts mingle with civil war militia, Neolithic outfits juxtaposed with band members of the much-loved ABBA tribute, you’d be forgiven for a certain amount of...
Roger Moorhouse is a prolific historian specialising in the Nazis and World War Two and his recently published Wolfpack: Inside Hitler’s U-Boat War is a corrective to the common perception that U-Boats were terrifying and effective silent killers from the deep. The...
Chalke goers are a stoic breed and the 40 degree heat (and humidity) did not put a dampener on the day. Top of the billing was America 250: The Continuing Revolution: What Next for American Democracy with luminaries including Anne Applebaum (Gulag, Iron Curtain) and...
