In the first monograph to fully examine the intersecting networks of Jacobites and travellers to the continent, Filet considers how small states used official diplomacy and deployed soft power — embodied by educational academies — to achieve foreign policy goals. This work uses little-known archival materials to explain how and why certain small states secretly […]
The magic and science of 18th-century Wales
Wales in the 18th century was a land where old magical beliefs and new science met, clashed, mixed and evolved, says Susan Stokes-Chapman, author of The Shadow Key. Her book explores the possibilities of this tension – and is also a “love letter to Wales and the Gothic”. The 18th century was a time of […]
Writing and researching naval fiction
Researching naval history at the time of Nelson involves taking in a lot of technical details. But, as Katie Daysh points out, when writing naval fiction, character must come first. The Age of Sail, typically seen as between the mid-16th century into the mid-19th, has been a popular subject in fiction since the time of […]
On Starlit Seas by Sara Sheridan
Celebrated writer and historian Maria Graham must make the treacherous voyage from Brazil to London to deliver her latest book to her publisher. Having come to terms with the loss of her beloved husband, Maria is now determined to live her life as she pleases, free from the smothering constraints of Georgian society. For a […]
Grace and Favour at Hampton Court Palace
When Neil Daws was asked to work with Historic Royal Palaces on a cosy crime historical novel set in Hampton Court Palace he agreed enthusiastically – well, who wouldn’t? He tells us about some of the unusual places and characters he came across while researching Murder at the Palace, which is set in Hampton Court‘s […]
Five surprising facts about Henry Benedict Stuart
To mark the 300th anniversary of the birth of Henry Benedict Stuart, also known as Cardinal York, on 6 March, 1725, our guest authors Calum E Cunningham and Stefano Baccolo offer five surprising facts about this influential man, now largely unknown outside Italy. You’ll have heard of his elder brother, though: Charles Edward Stuart, better […]
The Secrets of the Rose by Nicola Cornick
In 1715, with the country on the brink of rebellion, Dorothy Forster’s life at Bamburgh Hall is ruled by the men in her life – her feckless brothers stirring up trouble at court, her elderly father with his dangerous secrets and the man she loves who the world seems determined to keep her apart from. […]
Review: Elizabeth Heyrick by Jocelyn Robson
Rachael Tearney reviews the first biography of Elizabeth Heyrick, Quaker, campaigner and abolitionist. The women of the Abolitionist movement are far less well-known than the men, and this timely book highlights one whose advocation of ‘immediate’ rather than ‘gradual’ abolition of slavery put her at odds with better-known figures such as William Wilberforce. The Abolition […]