The Northern Rebellion
The “on this day” site tells me that the Northern Rebellion started on 9th November in 1569. The rebels seized Durham on the 14th November. It depends what you mean by beginning. The persecution of Catholics had been going on throughout Elizabeth’s reign. Mary Queen...
Book Launch – Called to Account
Book Launch day! Called to Account, the fourth book in the Sir Anthony Standen Adventures, is now available on Amazon as a Kindle ebook. Amazon are grinding through their quality checks on the paperback, but that’s usually quite quick. My producer has already started...
Power Politics
I have Niccolo Machiavelli and Louis XIV of France, as my options today, for an “on this day” style post. In 1512 the Medici family expelled Machiavelli from Florence, and in 1651, Louis became of full age and absolute monarch in his own right. Machiavelli’s...
The Lincoln Play
Abraham Lincoln was born in poverty in a log cabin in Kentucky, and self-educated. He was elected the 16th president of the United States on 6th November 1860. Lincoln is perhaps best remembered for the Gettysburg Address, arguably the best expression of American...
Book 5
Publication day for Called to Account, the fourth book in the Sir Anthony Standen Adventures, is this coming Tuesday. I have just taken my first full step towards researching book 5. I have placed an order for Louis XIII: The Making of a King, by Elizabeth Wirth...
Guy Fawkes and the Gunpowder Plot
Thanks to an anonymous letter, guards searched the cellars of the House of Lords on the night of 4th November 1605. They arrested Guy Fawkes, as he guarded 36 barrels of gunpowder. The plan to kill King James I, and his parliament, at the state opening of parliament...
A Different Sense
We need to engage more senses when writing and reading. I haven’t posted for a few days because I’ve been busy listening to the audio files for The Suggested Assassin, book 3 in the Sir Anthony Standen Adventures. It doesn’t seem to matter how many times I read my...
Martin Luther’s 95 Theses, on this day in 1517
This is my pick for today, and I don’t care which calendar it was. Martin Luther sent his 95 theses to Albrecht Von Brandenburg, the Archbishop of Mainz, which precipitated the Protestant reformation. I don’t doubt that Luther had a few good points. Indulgences, that...
The War of Jenkins’ Ear declared on this day in 1739
I was tempted to opt for Queen Isabella of Spain banning violence against Indians in the Americas in 1503, but that clearly didn’t last. I remember learning about the War of Jenkins’ Ear at school. I can’t think of a better name for a war to get schoolboys interested...
The Northern Rebellion
The “on this day” site tells me that the Northern Rebellion started on 9th November in 1569. The rebels seized Durham on the 14th November. It depends what you mean by beginning. The persecution of Catholics had been going on throughout Elizabeth’s reign. Mary Queen...
Book Launch – Called to Account
Book Launch day! Called to Account, the fourth book in the Sir Anthony Standen Adventures, is now available on Amazon as a Kindle ebook. Amazon are grinding through their quality checks on the paperback, but that’s usually quite quick. My producer has already started...
Power Politics
I have Niccolo Machiavelli and Louis XIV of France, as my options today, for an “on this day” style post. In 1512 the Medici family expelled Machiavelli from Florence, and in 1651, Louis became of full age and absolute monarch in his own right. Machiavelli’s...
The Lincoln Play
Abraham Lincoln was born in poverty in a log cabin in Kentucky, and self-educated. He was elected the 16th president of the United States on 6th November 1860. Lincoln is perhaps best remembered for the Gettysburg Address, arguably the best expression of American...
Book 5
Publication day for Called to Account, the fourth book in the Sir Anthony Standen Adventures, is this coming Tuesday. I have just taken my first full step towards researching book 5. I have placed an order for Louis XIII: The Making of a King, by Elizabeth Wirth...
Guy Fawkes and the Gunpowder Plot
Thanks to an anonymous letter, guards searched the cellars of the House of Lords on the night of 4th November 1605. They arrested Guy Fawkes, as he guarded 36 barrels of gunpowder. The plan to kill King James I, and his parliament, at the state opening of parliament...
A Different Sense
We need to engage more senses when writing and reading. I haven’t posted for a few days because I’ve been busy listening to the audio files for The Suggested Assassin, book 3 in the Sir Anthony Standen Adventures. It doesn’t seem to matter how many times I read my...
Martin Luther’s 95 Theses, on this day in 1517
This is my pick for today, and I don’t care which calendar it was. Martin Luther sent his 95 theses to Albrecht Von Brandenburg, the Archbishop of Mainz, which precipitated the Protestant reformation. I don’t doubt that Luther had a few good points. Indulgences, that...
The War of Jenkins’ Ear declared on this day in 1739
I was tempted to opt for Queen Isabella of Spain banning violence against Indians in the Americas in 1503, but that clearly didn’t last. I remember learning about the War of Jenkins’ Ear at school. I can’t think of a better name for a war to get schoolboys interested...