With a new introduction, this is the story of Hannibal, often regarded as a successor to the mantle of Alexander the Great, at a time when Carthage, in North Africa, and Rome were rivals for land and power across the Mediterranean sea. A masterful tactician, a resourceful planner and courageous general, Hannibal famously crossed the […]
‘England’ in the 10th century
What we think of as ‘England’ was, at the start of the 10th century, made up of a number of smaller kingdoms — many powerful in their own right — including the area known as as the Danelaw, ruled by Scandinavian kings. Yet, as MJ Porter, author of King of Kings, writes, by the middle […]
Female networks of power in the Middle Ages
Medieval royal marriages were about creating networks of power. This gave the female members of a family more influence than we might think, says JF Andrews, and the history of the five daughters and five daughters-in-law of Eleanor of Aquitaine show how these marriage connections worked in practice. ‘Name the sons of Eleanor of Aquitaine’ […]
The legacy of the village of Lidice
When the Nazi occupiers of the former Czech province of Bohemia, in an act of revenge, obliterated the village of Lidice and killed or transported its inhabitants, they did so intending that its very name should be erased from history. Yet Lidice soon became a symbol of the horrors of fascism and its name was […]
Are we the bad guys? Writing naval historical fiction from the French point of view
Mention the ‘classic age’ of naval historical fiction and most people immediately think of the ‘age of Nelson’, Horatio Hornblower, Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin. The gallant British Navy, hearts of oak and the Battle of Trafalgar. But there are two sides to every story, as JD Davies writes, and his new series takes the […]
Historia interviews: 2022 Non-fiction Crown Award winners Clare Mac Cumhaill and Rachael Wiseman
Clare Mac Cumhaill and Rachael Wiseman won the 2022 HWA Non-Fiction Crown Award for Metaphysical Animals, their portrait of the ‘Wartime Quartet’: four women who, as undergraduates at Somerville College, Oxford, bought a new approach to philosophy during the war years and created a way of ethical thinking that remains with us to this day. […]
Historical books to look out for in 2023
It’s back — Historia’s most popular regular feature, our round-up of books published by members of the Historical Writers’ Association (HWA) during the coming year. Here are more than 150 books covering history, biography, and historical fiction and spanning eras from Ancient Rome to the 1980s. They sweep around the world from Australia to India, […]
The history of history on television
Television – especially BBC TV – used to be an integral part of a family Christmas, with the nation (theoretically) gathered round the telly to watch the big film or the Queen’s Speech. All that’s history now. But what about the history of the Beeb itself in this, its 100th year, we asked the former […]