David Rizzio
On 9th March 1566 David Rizzio was murdered in Holyrood Palace. He was secretary to Mary Queen of Scots. We don’t know how good a secretary he was, but he is said to have been an excellent musician and singer, which is how he came to the attention of Mary. There are...
Faith and Reason
On 5th March 1616 De revolutionobus orbium coelestium, by Nicolaus Copernicus was placed on the Catholic Forbidden Index. The problem with Copernicus’s book is that it contained the results of his astronomical observations, which were that the Earth revolves around...
Spy in Plain Sight
Watching QIXL recently I learnt about a number of very famous spies. I don’t mean a spy like Kim Philby or Anthony Blunt, I mean a spy like Noel Coward, Marlene Dietrich, Audrey Hepburn or Josephine Baker. The advantage of these famous stars in espionage terms, was...
Luck
On 1st March 1579 Francis Drake captured the Spanish treasure ship, Nuestra Señora de la Concepción off the coast of Peru. This was during his circumnavigation of the globe from 1577 to 1580. He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth I aboard his ship the Golden Hind in...
TikTok
It’s that time of the month again when Red Herrings, the CWA’s bulletin, drops through the letterbox. Our chair, Vaseem Khan, tells a hilarious story about an American writer’s use of TikTok. The writer shall remain nameless but apparently a member of his (I’m...
Joe Todd Awards
On Friday I was in Oxford at the annual Joe Todd Dinner in my old college, St. Edmund Hall. Joe was a wonderful man and an inspiring tutor in engineering science. To honour his legacy, his students contributed to a fund which annually helps fund research projects...
Essex and Elizabeth
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...
Villanelle
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...
Russia
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...
David Rizzio
On 9th March 1566 David Rizzio was murdered in Holyrood Palace. He was secretary to Mary Queen of Scots. We don’t know how good a secretary he was, but he is said to have been an excellent musician and singer, which is how he came to the attention of Mary. There are...
Faith and Reason
On 5th March 1616 De revolutionobus orbium coelestium, by Nicolaus Copernicus was placed on the Catholic Forbidden Index. The problem with Copernicus’s book is that it contained the results of his astronomical observations, which were that the Earth revolves around...
Spy in Plain Sight
Watching QIXL recently I learnt about a number of very famous spies. I don’t mean a spy like Kim Philby or Anthony Blunt, I mean a spy like Noel Coward, Marlene Dietrich, Audrey Hepburn or Josephine Baker. The advantage of these famous stars in espionage terms, was...
Luck
On 1st March 1579 Francis Drake captured the Spanish treasure ship, Nuestra Señora de la Concepción off the coast of Peru. This was during his circumnavigation of the globe from 1577 to 1580. He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth I aboard his ship the Golden Hind in...
TikTok
It’s that time of the month again when Red Herrings, the CWA’s bulletin, drops through the letterbox. Our chair, Vaseem Khan, tells a hilarious story about an American writer’s use of TikTok. The writer shall remain nameless but apparently a member of his (I’m...
Joe Todd Awards
On Friday I was in Oxford at the annual Joe Todd Dinner in my old college, St. Edmund Hall. Joe was a wonderful man and an inspiring tutor in engineering science. To honour his legacy, his students contributed to a fund which annually helps fund research projects...
Essex and Elizabeth
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...
Villanelle
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...
Russia
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...