If we remember Elizabeth Boleyn, Countess of Wiltshire, it’s as the mother of Anne, Mary and George, and the wife of Thomas. Yet, as Alexandra Walsh discovered, she was a significant woman in her own right — but one who has disappeared under the shadows of her more famous relatives. Here Alexandra aims to put […]
Rome’s lost exiles
Exile was a very Roman punishment, Fiona Forsyth says. But under Augustus it got personal. Fiona looks at the fate of the lost Romans who lived — and often died — in exile, including members of the Emperor’s own family, and the poet Ovid, subject of her latest novels. When Rome’s first emperor died, there […]
The Blood Countess by Shelley Puhak
There have long been whispers, coming from the castle; from the village square; from the dark woods.The great lady-a countess, from one of Europe’s oldest families-is a vicious killer. Some even say she bathes in the blood of her victims. When the king’s men force their way into her manor house, she has blood on […]
Hard Streets by Jacqueline Riding
Charlie Chaplin rose from the hard streets of Victorian London to become one of the most beloved comedians of all time. With his threadbare jacket, baggy trousers and puzzled expression, Chaplin’s ‘Little Tramp’ alter ego was shaped by the city of his childhood — a place of ribald variety shows and hard drinking, radical politics […]
The Man Who Stopped the Sultan by Edoardo Albert
Throughout the 16th century, wars raged across Europe as kings and republics jostled for wealth and power. Yet one man exceeded all these medieval princes of Christendom: Suleiman the Magnificent. As ruler of the Ottoman Empire, he governed 25 million people from Constantinople, his realm stretching from Persia to the Atlantic Ocean. Turning his gaze […]
How an engineer stopped Sultan Suleiman from conquering Rhodes
How could an engineer stop the Ottoman sultan, Suleiman the Magnificent, and his huge army from conquering the Knights Hospitaller on their island of Rhodes? By being a superb underground warfare tactician, Edoardo Albert explains. This is the story behind his new book, The Man Who Stopped the Sultan. The drum began to chime. This […]
Headhunters of the Naga Hills
Vaseem Khan’s latest murder mystery is set in Nagaland, in the north-eastern region of India. He writes about the history of the area once known as the Naga Hills and the tribes who lived there – people who were, until fairly recently, headhunters. In the far north-eastern corner of India is the state of Nagaland, […]
16th-century Seville: Spain’s criminal capital
Seville in the 16th century was a city of wealth, the arts and international trade. But, says Matthew Carr, author of The Emperor of Seville, it was also Spain’s criminal capital, winning the nickname of the Great Babylon. He tells Historia how Seville embodied the paradox at the heart of Spain’s Golden Age. History tends […]