by David West | Oct 10, 2025 | News
On the 10th of October, 1575, Roman Catholic forces under Henry I, Duke of Guise, defeated the Protestants and captured, amongst others, Philippe de Mornay. There are several points at which the stories of Philippe de Mornay and my ancestor, Sir Anthony Standen...
by David West | Oct 9, 2025 | News
On the 9th of October, 1967, Che Guevara was executed for attempting to incite revolution in Bolivia. It’s over forty years since I was a student at Oxford, but I remember that almost every student’s room had the iconic poster of Che Guevara on the wall, and the male...
by David West | Oct 8, 2025 | News
My choice of historical event for the 8th of October is the Siege of Alkmaar, which began on the 21st of August 1573. It was as a pivotal event in the Eighty Years’ War, marking the first decisive defeat of the Spanish forces by the Dutch rebels. This victory...
by David West | Oct 7, 2025 | News
The Battle of Lepanto was fought on the 7th of October, 1571. What caught my attention about this battle is that it was the last major naval battle in the Western world to be fought, almost entirely, between galleys, that is to say, rowing vessels. This is only ...
by David West | Oct 6, 2025 | News
There were several historical events that tempted me today. The 6th of October marked the premier of The Jazz Singer, the first talking picture in 1927. I was tempted by the start of the Yom Kippur War in 1973. Instead I have opted for Eurydice, the earliest...
by David West | Oct 5, 2025 | News
An attempted assassination of Paolo Sarpi, commissioned by Pope Paul V, was thwarted on the 5th of October, 1607. This was one of the inspirations for Fire and Earth, the second book in the Sir Anthony Standen Adventures. Paolo Sarpi (1552–1623) was a Venetian...
