Without Bede, a monk living in Jarrow at the end of the 7th and beginning of the 8th centuries, there would be a huge gap in the early history of the English peoples. Indeed, it was Bede who first spoke of the separate tribes and kingdoms as ‘English’. That’s why, as his biographer Edoardo Albert […]
The joys and challenges of writing historical non-fiction
Geraldine Roberts considers her experience of researching her new book, The Rebel and the Peacemaker, and the joys and challenges that go with writing historical non-fiction. The Rebel and the Peacemaker is about the Regency power couple Mary and Charles Bagot, who were trailblazers on the diplomatic circuit and documented the highs and lows of […]
Sex in Ancient Greece
Sex in Ancient Greece is the subject of LJ Trafford’s new book. She found that the Greeks were much stranger, and much smuttier, than we might think, and shares some of her research with us. Back in 2020 I wrote a book called Sex and Sexuality in Ancient Rome, and tremendous fun it was too, […]
Historia interview: Claire Hobson
On 29 May, Oak Apple Day, it’ll be 396 years from Charles II’s birth in 1630 and 366 since his restoration. To mark the occasion, Historia spoke to Claire Hobson, whose biography marks those 30 turbulent years that formed the future king. Your book, Charles II: From the Cradle to the Crown, looks self-explanatory from […]
The women who plotted aircraft battles in the Siege of Malta
Tracy Cook’s debut novel was inspired by the women who plotted aircraft battles during the Siege of Malta – the only civilians to do such work during the Second World War. Though they’re largely forgotten now, their highly-skilled work helped the RAF to defend the island against German and Italian forces in the early 1940s. […]
Historia interview: Carolyn O’Brien
Carolyn O’Brien’s new novel Rose & Renzo is set in 1930s Manchester and is deeply entwined with the radical politics of the time, the backdrop to a passionate coming-of-age story. Carolyn O’Brien talks to fellow novelist Carolyn Kirby about the inspirations for her book. CK: Rose & Renzo is a wonderful read! Tell us about […]
Book theft in Nazi-occupied Paris
Chris Lloyd, author of the Occupation series of crime novels about Nazi-occupied Paris, argues that the widescale looting of books, now largely forgotten, was more sinister and insidious that the famous book-burnings of the 1930s. Because it wasn’t done for display; it was for a calculated culture war. “You don’t have to burn books to […]
The Festival of Britain, 75 years ago
Julie Anderson looks back at the Festival of Britain, held 75 years ago this summer. Seen as a “tonic for the nation” after the Second World War and years of austerity, it’s the backdrop to her latest novel. It is 1951, six years after the end of World War Two. Rationing is still in place, […]