All articles in History
23rd February, 2023 in History, Society & Culture, True Crime
How a story of Ethiopian plunder started in a Scottish cupboard
My book was born on a cold winter afternoon when a train pulled into Edinburgh’s Waverley Station. Out walked a group of black-robed priests, led by the archbishop of the ancient Ethiopian city of Axum. Close behind came diplomats, officials, a delegation of Rastafarians from the…
25th January, 2023 in History
The world of the Roman chariot horse
‘The horses burst through the sky and with swift-hooved feet cut a dash through the clouds, which blocked their way as borne on wings they passed the east wind.’ (Ovid, Metamorphoses II.157–60) The Formula One of the Roman world was the high-adrenalin sport of chariot racing wher…
27th October, 2022 in History, Society & Culture
How the President of the United State’s secret daily newspaper began
President Harry S. Truman stared at the sheet of white paper, his brown eyes magnified by the thick lenses of his glasses. It was marked TOP SECRET and beneath the dramatic capital letters were two pages of typed text arranged under six headings. The paper was the first ‘Daily Su…
14th October, 2022 in History, Local & Family History
Haunted historic houses and castles in the UK
Get ready to channel all things spooky as we run through some of the most haunted houses and castles in the UK and explore the real history behind the ghost stories. Blickling Hall, Norfolk This beautiful grand Norfolk residence is home to one of history’s most famous phantoms: A…
26th September, 2022 in Archaeology, History
Rome’s legacy: How the Roman Empire shaped Britain
As you exit Tower Hill tube station in the City of London, to the left stands the largest surviving section of Roman London’s land wall. Over 10m in height, it soars enigmatically over commuters and tourists, many of whom pass by oblivious to its unlikely story. The wall, one of…
23rd September, 2022 in Biography & Memoir, History, Women in History
The life of Kate Greenaway (1846-1901)
Once a household name around the globe, the artist and author Kate Greenaway has long since slipped into relative obscurity. Famous for her quaint drawings of mittened and bonneted girls, Kate depicted a rose-tinted view of childhood in days gone by, capturing nostalgic innocence…
9th September, 2022 in Biography & Memoir, History, Women in History
The reign of Queen Elizabeth II: A timeline
On 8 September 2022, Buckingham Palace announced that Queen Elizabeth II had died at the age of 96, after reigning for 70 years. Elizabeth succeeded to the throne in 1952 at the age of 25, following the death of her father, King George VI. As the monarch of the United Kingdom and…
9th September, 2022 in Biography & Memoir, History, Women in History
Queen Elizabeth II: A giant among British royals
Descending the stairs of the royal plane at London Airport on 7 February 1952, the former Princess Elizabeth took her first steps on British soil as queen. She was 25. Only days earlier, her parents, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, along with her sister, Princess Margaret, ha…
24th August, 2022 in Biography & Memoir, History
Breakspear: More cannons than canon
‘The English reader may consult the Biographia Britannica for Adrian IV but our own writers have added nothing to the fame or merits of their countryman.’ – Edward Gibbon [1] Nicholas Breakspear was elected pope in 1154, choosing Adrian as his papal name. He is the first and so f…
15th August, 2022 in History, Society & Culture
Postcards and Pitman: A fascinating glimpse into a forgotten world
Postcards and Pitman shorthand have seen their heyday but combined they form a fascinating glimpse into a forgotten world… I got to Blackpool yesterday but so far I am not very much in love with it. It is too much of a city. The weather has been shocking today, raining all…
25th July, 2022 in History, Local & Family History
Re-enactment and research: How modern recreations can help us visualise the past
John Fletcher author of The Western Kingdom: The Birth of Cornwall discusses re-enactment and its relation to research and history. There is something extremely visceral, extremely real, about holding a sword. When you feel the weight of the blade and the rough leather of the gri…
20th May, 2022 in History
Britain’s lost tragedies uncovered (and remembered)
Since the age of 11 I have had a fascination with disasters, particularly the lost ships of the world but this soon extended to air disasters and then it spiralled into an archive of information that I have now. As many people know I have written over a dozen books on disasters,…