They were modern men, the soldiers of the Jacobite Rising of 1745: doctors and lawyers, students and teachers, gardeners and weavers. These are the men often written out of history, or else depicted as gallant but misguided fools. But in reality they were children of the Age of Reason, they wrote poetry, discussed the latest […]
Agricola: Architect of Roman Britain by Simon Turney
Gnaeus Julius Agricola was a man fated for conquest and tied to the island of Britannia. He cut his teeth on military command during the revolt of Boudica, later commanded a legion against the warlike Brigantes, and was finally given the governorship of the province and was able to lead the armies north, incorporating into […]
Agricola’s victories in Britain
Agricola (AD40–93) was the only Roman general who could claim to have subdued the whole of Britain. Simon Turney has written the first biography of this important figure for nearly two millennia. He looks at why Agricola’s victories make him one of the great military figures in Roman history. A Roman general is marked by […]
Shake Loose the Border by Robert Low
It is 1548, and the war with the English is winding down. But in the savage heart of the Borders, peace is far from secured. One-armed Batty Coalhouse, bounty hunter, explosives specialist, border wanderer, is doing what he usually does: ripping the enemy apart. But then he’s sent on an unusual errand. An old friend […]
Ten things you may not know about the Declaration of Arbroath
“The Declaration of Arbroath was and has been unequalled in its eloquent plea for the liberty of man. From the darkness of mediaeval minds it shone a torch upon future struggles which its signatories could not have foreseen or understood. “Firstly it set the will and the wishes of the people above the King… Secondly, […]
One Week In April: The Scottish Radical Rising of 1820 by Maggie Craig
In April 1820 a series of dramatic events exploded around Glasgow, central Scotland and Ayrshire. Demanding political reform and better living and working conditions, 60,000 weavers and other workers went on strike. Revolution was in the air. It was the culmination of several years of unrest, which had seen huge mass meetings in Glasgow and […]
The Scottish Radical Rising of 1820
Two hundred years ago, a wave of political protest swept through Central Scotland and Ayrshire, part of unrest throughout Britain following the end of the Napoleonic Wars. Maggie Craig is the author of a new history of the events, One Week In April: The Scottish Radical Rising of 1820. By 1820, living and working conditions […]