by David West | Feb 25, 2024 | News
On 25th February 1601 Robert Devereux 2nd Earl of Essex was executed for treason. The story is told in the 1939 film, The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex, starring Bette Davis and Errol Flynn. The story is also told in The Spy who Sank the Armada, my first novel...
by David West | Feb 22, 2024 | News
The villanelle is a poetic form comprising five tercets followed by a quatrain. There are two repeating, rhyming refrains which run through the poem and form the final two lines. These refrains are supported by a supporting rhyme. This will all become clear if you...
by David West | Feb 18, 2024 | News
On the 18th of February 1884 Russian police seized all copies of Leo Tolstoy’s book, What I Believe In. Tolstoy was born to an aristocratic family. In 1844 he began studying law and oriental languages at Kazan University, where his teachers described him as unable and...
by David West | Feb 16, 2024 | News
On the 16th February 1861 the president-elect, Abraham Lincoln, stopped his train in Westfield to thank an 11 year-old girl, Grace Bedell. Grace had written to Lincoln encouraging him to grow a beard in order to improve his appearance and win the election. Lincoln had...
by David West | Feb 14, 2024 | News
On Saint Valentine’s Day our minds turn to thoughts of love, but why? When I went to the On This Day webpage, I was expecting to find the Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre. I’d already asked ChatGBT to paint a picture of it for me. I don’t recognize Al Capone in there,...
