The past is never dead, it isn’t even past
Tony Spawforth, surely the impact on our world today by the Greeks is significantly limited - after all the Romans would surely claim the ancient influence, if there is any? In many ways the Romans were simply conduits for the older and greater Greek civilisation that...
The Battle of Crécy is the first in a series of three books covering the major land battles of the Hundred Years War, that attempt to enforce the English claim to the throne of France by right of inheritance, and to regain those English possessions in France lost by...
Wood's book of the series was published afterwards, and now, 40 years on, he has released a new edition. Our editor, and MJ Porter, author of Son of Mercia, had the opportunity to pose a few questions, along with some readers of Aspects of History. The new edition of...
Stephen P. Kershaw’s new book has been published at the right time, what with an autocratic ruler recently invading a European democracy with overwhelming odds. There are always problems with direct comparisons, but one can’t help thinking of Ukraine when reading...
Oliver Cromwell’s Protectorate - the British nations’ only foray into republicanism – receives too little popular attention. It is often referred to obliquely as the Interregnum: a failed experiment and an interruption to the otherwise smooth course of monarchical...
When visiting the Royal Tombs of the Argead dynasty at Aigai, Vergina in northern Greece, one descends a slight declining ramp, in bright sunlight with multi-coloured oleander on either side, towards a doorway at the end that is cloaked in darkness. On entering the...
Britain's Destiny The Greek historian Thucydides called his account of the 5th century BC war between Athens and Sparta was ‘a possession for all time’, because ‘the past is an aid to understanding the future.’ Cicero, writing nearly four centuries later, agreed that...
Medea @Soho Place - Review Euripides' Medea is one of the more affecting tragedies emanating from 5th century Athens. For those unfamiliar, it's a sequel to Jason and the Argonauts - but if you're thinking it's in the style of the Hollywood version with Todd Armstrong...
The Bin Laden Papers, by Nelly Lahoud Some years ago a wise Saudi friend implored me to read Amin Malouf’s brilliant The Crusades Through Arab Eyes. Malouf’s use of primary Arab sources cast a corrective and insightful gaze on the Arab defenders, a classic piece of...
I write a series about a Scotland Yard detective, DCI Frank Merlin operating in World War Two London. To date there are five books in the series with the fifth, Dead In The Water, coming out this month from Headline. My aim has always been to set the series against a...
