Bedlam, or Bethlehem Hospital, was a place of horror both for the mentally ill people incarcerated there and in the minds of others, not just in London. By the 17th century, visitors were paying to view the ‘lunaticks’ in Bedlam, plays were being written about it, and fear of imprisonment there was commonplace, Jemahl Evans, […]
Argentina: football and history
The unpopularity of Argentina goes back much further than the reaction to its team’s behaviour during the 2026 World Cup. It’s rooted in the 150-year-old idea that “Argentines came from boats from Europe” and were — are — superior to other Latin American people, Matthew Carr explains. The World Cup always produces villains as well […]
The challenges of researching working class lives
If you want to write fiction or non-fiction based around the court of Henry VIII or of Queen Victoria, you’ll have plenty of sources to draw on. Researching working class lives is more challenging. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do it, argues Esther Freeman. When writing my book – Great Women of London – one […]
Jane Seymour: Patronage, Material Culture and Image Crafting by Elizabeth Norton
Jane Seymour, the third wife of Henry VIII, was queen of England for only 17 months, something which has accounted for the little interest shown in her by historians. In her lifetime, however, she was a significant political figure, while her legacy and memorialization extended beyond her early death following childbirth in October 1537. This […]
Was CS Lewis a misogynist?
Was CS Lewis a misogynist? Many people think he was, often based on what’s called the ‘Susan problem’ in The Last Battle. But while researching her debut novel, a mystery based on his life in Oxford in the 1940s, Maureen Paton found plenty of evidence to show that he was not; in fact, he challenged […]
Edwin Landseer’s vanished paintings and lost love
Did the Victorian artist Edwin Landseer have an affair with Georgina, Duchess of Bedford? Was his lost love the reason for his deteriorating mental health? And how is that question linked to a vanished painting of deer in a Highland run? Lucy Waverley writes about researching her debut novel. On my honeymoon, I read about […]
Marcus Agrippa: The True Story by Lindsay Powell
Marcus Agrippa was a remarkable man in his own day and, 2,000 years later, his achievement is undiminished. As the foremost deputy of Emperor Augustus, for three decades he waged wars, befriended kings and potentates, pacified provinces, and beautified Rome. Most people who recognise his name today likely know it through novels, films, and television. […]
Heroines of the Tudor World by Sharon Bennett Connolly
These are the women who ruled, the women who founded dynasties, the women who fought for religious freedom, their families and love. These are the women who made a difference, who influenced countries, kings and the Reformation. This book focuses on the women who lived through the Renaissance and Reformation, examining the threats and challenges […]