The past is never dead, it isn’t even past
‘Rumour is always more terrifying when it concerns the deaths of the powerful’, wrote the Roman senator and historian Cornelius Tacitus in the early 2nd century CE. His statement can be equally applied to monarchs and potentates, both dynastic and elected, who, by...
Anna M Holmes – great to have the opportunity to chat about Dance of the Earth on behalf of Aspects of History. One of your characters, Rose begins life abandoned at a stage door – a very dramatic and symbolic entrance into the world of performance. What does it mean...
Annie Elliot crafts an intimate glance into the life and marriage of one of the most celebrated English writers of the 19th century, Charles Dickens. Within Mr & Mrs Charles Dickens: Her Story: “So The World May Know He Loved Me Once.”, Elliot masterfully explores...
Hello Simon. Your book, Death to Order, suggests that assassination is as much about signalling as it is about elimination. How important is the message sent by a killing compared to the actual removal of a target? It depends on the kind of assassination campaign. The...
Harry Sidebottom has written an invaluable work for scholars and storytellers alike. Those Who Are About To Die is a masterclass in how to both educate and entertain the reader simultaneously. Although the overall narrative deals with one day in the life of a Roman...
Whether you are interested in being introduced to British history, or you are familiar with it, Willie, Willie, Harry, Stee, will prove to be a find. Borne out of a successful podcast of the same name, Charlie Higson has written a book which entertains and educates in...
The Victorians were good at what we might call ‘spin’. En masse, they’ve been remembered as prudish, reserved, industrious, God-fearing. Their political leaders, William Gladstone and Benjamin Disraeli, seen as giants, fighting battles to modernise the state, to...
Annie Elliot – welcome to Aspects of History. What spurred you to write about Catherine Dickens? How did you first hear about her story? I read Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell and thought writing from the perspective of a famous man’s wife was a great idea. Charles Dickens...
When writing my second Alexander Baxby mystery Naming the Dead, I tried to imagine what life was like for ordinary people in the early seventeenth century. A murder-solving physician such as Baxby would have witnessed much suffering and death. Average life expectancy...
