The past is never dead, it isn’t even past
Much as the vast majority of medieval royal marriages, Margaret of Anjou's marriage was one of pure political necessity over which she had no influence. She would in theory live her life at the mercy of the policies of her husband, at the often cruel demands of war...
Some historians have labelled it a ‘genocide’, whereas other have suggested that what King William I did in the north of England, in the winter of 1069/70, was not out of character with the standards of the time. But, whilst we should always try to avoid projecting...
So, Paul, The Reckoning is the third and final book in the Rebellion trilogy. Bring us up to date with where Thegn Oslac of Acum is now. Yes, it seems a long time since I started the first book, but we’re finally into the home straight now. After the failure of the...
When on 19 August 14 CE, the Emperor Augustus died, by his side was his wife, Livia Drusilla. Livia was a paragon of Roman womanly virtues, who put hardly a foot wrong in fifty years of marriage to the most scrutinised man of his time, and yet, from at least the 2nd...
The historical context of Delhi – City of Spies is crucial to my novel because it is the true story of an unsolved murder that took place in New Delhi in 1954 at the height of the Cold War. Although my book is based on a family archive and is, therefore, subjective...
Melanie Singh Hughes, what first attracted you to the period or periods you work in? The period from the end of WW1 to 1960 was one of tumultuous change. Old empires fell, new republics were formed, fascism and communism came into power, leading to genocide and huge...
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" order="ASC" show_private="on"...
The Second World War saw a desperate conflict between Allied and Axis scientists, who were locked in a deadly arms race to develop new technology - in what Winston Churchill called the Wizard War. To gain the upper hand in this secret war, the Royal Navy formed a...
Henrik Ibsen’s Ghosts is not a play that tries to win you over gently, and the production at the Questors Theatre did little to soften its impact. Set firmly within the Alving household and unfolding without an interval, the evening pressed forward with an...
Welcome to Aspects of History, Philippa. Thanks so much for agreeing to this interview. I thoroughly enjoyed The Boleyn Traitor! Firstly, I’m curious as to your thoughts on why the Tudors, unlike other dynasties – the Stuarts or the Georgians – seem to have such a big...
