Within living memory, smallpox was a dreaded disease. Over human history it has killed untold millions. Back in the 18th century, as epidemics swept Europe, the first rumours emerged of an effective treatment: a mysterious method called inoculation. But a key problem remained: convincing people to accept the preventative remedy, the forerunner of vaccination. Arguments […]
How to serve a Tudor feast
Daniel Pursglove, the reluctant spy at the centre of KJ Maitland’s crime-thriller series, is back. In Traitor in the Ice he’s sent to Battle Abbey, seat of the Roman Catholic Montague family, to find a murderer in a nest of suspected priests. Karen tells Historia about the strange rituals that surrounded serving meals in this […]
Elizabethan Secret Agent: The Untold Story of William Ashby by Timothy Ashby
This is the biography of William Ashby, Elizabethan intelligence agent and diplomat who served as ambassador to Scotland during the Spanish Armada crisis. It provides a fresh social, political and foreign policy insight from the perspective of a gentleman spy who took part in some of the most important events of his time. Much of […]
Was King Alfred really the father of the English navy?
King Alfred of Wessex has been credited with forming the first English navy in the 9th century. But, as Chris Bishop, author of the Shadow of the Raven series, writes, this isn’t the case. While Alfred is often regarded as being the ‘father’ of the English navy, he was not its ‘founder’. The English Navy […]
Family memories of Italy in World War Two
Can a novel based on family memories be more that a fictional imitation of life? Cristina Loggia’s debut, Lucifer’s Game, based on true events in Italy during the Second World War, aims to remind us of a past that should never be forgotten. Tripoli, Peloponnese, Greece, September 1943: my paternal grandfather Guido, who was stationed […]
Review: The World of Stonehenge
The British Museum’s big exhibition for 2022 is the crowd-puller The World of Stonehenge, on until July. James Burge went to see it for Historia and found surprises, mystery, and exquisite displays. Stonehenge is probably the most famous mysteriously atmospheric building in the world. The monument’s celebrity is filling The World of Stonehenge exhibition at […]
The truth about nuns in 16th-century Florence
For The Darkest Sin, DV Bishop’s latest novel set in 16th-century Florence, he needed to find out about life behind the closed doors of Italian convents. He unveils the truth about Florentine nuns for Historia. Nuns have always fascinated me. One of my older cousins was a nun, and nuns taught many classes at the […]
Damn’ Rebel Bitches by Maggie Craig
Too many historians have ignored the role of women in the Jacobite Rising of 1745. This book aims to redress the balance. Damn’ Rebel Bitches takes a totally fresh approach to the history of the Jacobite Rising by telling the fascinating stories of the many women caught up in the turbulent events of 1745-46. Drawn […]