Paris, the City of Love, in the 1860s; Alexander II of Russia meeting a mysterious fortune-teller who predicts his death; an assassination attempt in the Imperial Palace. RN Morris tells this strange story and wonders: did the gypsy’s prophecy come true? Part one: love In May 1867, a World Fair was held in Paris. Tsar […]
Spycraft by Nadine Akkerman and Pete Langman
Early modern Europe was a hotbed of espionage, where spies, spy-catchers, and conspirators pitted their wits against each other in deadly games of hide and seek. Theirs was a dangerous trade — only those who mastered the latest techniques would survive. Nadine Akkerman and Pete Langman explore the methods spies actually used in the period, including […]
Fake news, or the Horrid Popish Plot
The ‘Horrid Popish Plot’, as it was called, was an anti-Catholic conspiracy that flared up in the 1670s; a classic example of fake news infecting the public imagination. Anna Abney examines the bizarre and sometimes shocking events. ‘Since Hell is broke loose, and the Press set a work,By Jesuit, by Jew, by Christian, and Turk; […]
Christmas reading 2022 – our pick of top historical books
We asked nine well-loved authors to each recommend two historical books for Christmas 2022 to give, receive, or treat yourself with. These include many of the most absorbing books, fiction and non-fiction, published recently. We hope these suggestions inspire you. DV Bishop The Clockwork Girl by Anna Mazzola. A winter’s tale full of mystery and […]
The unsung heroes of Grub Street
Grub Street has been a synonym for hack journalism (and journalists) for over 300 years. But where would the hacks have been without being published? Ruth Herman looks at two once-famous printers, Grub Street’s unsung early heroes – or possibly villains, depending on whose side you took. We celebrate the British tradition of a free […]
London in 1708: a surprisingly modern city
London in the early 18th century was, David Fairer argues, a surprisingly modern city, with troubles not unlike our own: unreliable news, questionable financial deals, vicious party politics. Yet it’s a period that’s been neglected in historical fiction. His trio of books set in a chocolate house aims to change that. A royal scandal, party […]
Scandal at Dolphin Square: A Notorious History by Daniel Smith and Simon Danczuk
Designed as a city dwelling for the modern age, Dolphin Square opened in London’s Pimlico in 1936. Boasting 1,250 high-tech flats, a swimming pool, restaurant, gardens and shopping arcade, the complex quickly attracted a long list of the affluent and influential. But behind its veneer of respectability, the Square has become one of the country’s […]
The politics of Tutankhamun’s tomb
Nearly a century after the excavations at Tutankhamun’s tomb in the Valley of the Kings in Egypt, we are coming to regard the finders, keepers attitude towards ancient objects in countries other than our own as (at least) problematic. No such hesitation troubled Lord Carnarvon and Howard Carter at the time, though the discovery would […]