On the 16th of September, 1701, James Frances Edward Stuart, known as the Old Pretender, became the Jacobite claimant to the thrones of England and Scotland on the death of his father, James II. James Francis Edward Stuart, known to his supporters as James III and...

I received an email yesterday claiming to be from Jane von Mehren, senior partner, literary agent, at Aevitas Creative Management. It was gushing with praise for Called to Account, the fourth book in the Sir Anthony Standen Adventures. However, said gushing praise...

The Battle of Boxtel, fought on the 14th and 15th of September, 1794, was a relatively small but significant engagement during the Flanders Campaign of the French Revolutionary Wars. Although overshadowed by larger battles such as Fleurus, Boxtel marked another step...

I have written about a number of saints: Saint Francis, Saint Crispin, and Saint Edmund, amongst others. But they were all men. So it’s high time for a female saint. On the 14th of September, 1975, Elizabeth Ann Seton became the first person born in what would become...

On the 13th of September, 1609, Henry Hudson reached the river that would later be named after him. Hudson was around in Sir Anthony Standen’s time, and I’ve written about other explorers of that age, such as Sir Francis Drake and Sir Walter Raleigh. So let’s look...

Scrolling through the list of events for the 12th of September, I got quite excited by the Battle of Marathon, but I’d done it. Simon de Montfort, I’d also done him. However I haven’t written about the Lascoux Cave paintings, discovered on this day in 1940. They are...

On the 11th of September, 1973, a coup led by General Augusto Pinochet replaced the government of Salvadore Allende in Chile. We visited Chile in 2019 and loved the country and the people, but you could still sense the relief that the democracy that returned in 1990...

I like writing about inventors, I suppose it’s the engineer in me. I’ve lost track of how many inventors I’ve written about, certainly Colt and Edison. Claire and I enjoy watching the Great British Sewing Bee. I can sew a little, but have never even tried to work a...

Operation Avalanche was the codename for the allied landings at Salerno in Italy, on the 9th of September, 1943. My father was one of those allied troops in the 1st Battalion Rifle Brigade, battle hardened as desert rats in North Africa. It marked a crucial stage in...

On the 16th of September, 1701, James Frances Edward Stuart, known as the Old Pretender, became the Jacobite claimant to the thrones of England and Scotland on the death of his father, James II. James Francis Edward Stuart, known to his supporters as James III and...

I received an email yesterday claiming to be from Jane von Mehren, senior partner, literary agent, at Aevitas Creative Management. It was gushing with praise for Called to Account, the fourth book in the Sir Anthony Standen Adventures. However, said gushing praise...

The Battle of Boxtel, fought on the 14th and 15th of September, 1794, was a relatively small but significant engagement during the Flanders Campaign of the French Revolutionary Wars. Although overshadowed by larger battles such as Fleurus, Boxtel marked another step...

I have written about a number of saints: Saint Francis, Saint Crispin, and Saint Edmund, amongst others. But they were all men. So it’s high time for a female saint. On the 14th of September, 1975, Elizabeth Ann Seton became the first person born in what would become...

On the 13th of September, 1609, Henry Hudson reached the river that would later be named after him. Hudson was around in Sir Anthony Standen’s time, and I’ve written about other explorers of that age, such as Sir Francis Drake and Sir Walter Raleigh. So let’s look...

Scrolling through the list of events for the 12th of September, I got quite excited by the Battle of Marathon, but I’d done it. Simon de Montfort, I’d also done him. However I haven’t written about the Lascoux Cave paintings, discovered on this day in 1940. They are...

On the 11th of September, 1973, a coup led by General Augusto Pinochet replaced the government of Salvadore Allende in Chile. We visited Chile in 2019 and loved the country and the people, but you could still sense the relief that the democracy that returned in 1990...

I like writing about inventors, I suppose it’s the engineer in me. I’ve lost track of how many inventors I’ve written about, certainly Colt and Edison. Claire and I enjoy watching the Great British Sewing Bee. I can sew a little, but have never even tried to work a...

Operation Avalanche was the codename for the allied landings at Salerno in Italy, on the 9th of September, 1943. My father was one of those allied troops in the 1st Battalion Rifle Brigade, battle hardened as desert rats in North Africa. It marked a crucial stage in...