The past is never dead, it isn’t even past
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" multiple_cpt="post,short_stories" use_taxonomy_terms="on"...
Nuclear Near Misses A couple of years ago I spotted an interesting tweet from Tim Harford, pointing me to an article in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists that told the extraordinary story of a group of missilemen on Okinawa who were ordered to launch their...
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...
In March 2018 I made a trip to the ancient Mediterranean port of Acre in Northern Israel – Akka in Arabic, Akko in Hebrew – as part of the research for writing my most recent book, Accursed Tower. I wanted to explore the place where the crusaders made their last...
The last few years have seen people across the world being displaced in unprecedented numbers. As the entry to Europe Greece has been all but overwhelmed by the influx of refugees arriving on its shores, but the Greeks themselves have their own deep history of...
What role did Florence play at the end of the 15th century, and what were some of the factors that led to its prominence? At the end of 15th century Florence had become the epicentre of the Renaissance. This was one of the great cultural resurgences of European...
On 11 December 1282 Prince Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, Prince of Wales, was lured to a meeting near Builth, mid-Wales, and assassinated. Shortly afterwards his leaderless army was ambushed and routed – or 'discomfited', to use the contemporary term. When the slaughter was...
Darren Baker's latest book is a narrative history of the Montforts, one of the most famous noble families of the medieval era. It follows on from his previous works on Simon de Montfort and Henry III and their consorts, the two Eleanors. This is an ambitious work, and...
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 Role of the Constable In many of my 17th century novels, people fall foul of the law in one way or another, and so I found it fascinating to examine what was in place to keep the peace in this era before the Police Force. During the 17th century the responsibility...
