Hang on…a town hung an elephant? I was procrastinating online today and stumbled across an article in the forever brilliant and dramatic MailOnline (don’t dwell on this fact, it’s my guilty pleasure). After I questioned my eyes, and general humanity, I figured this was just a case of early 20th century Photoshopping. Turns out this photo, and the…
Author: HistoricalHoney
CITY OF GANGS: Glasgow and the Rise of the British Gangster by Andrew Davies
“Scotland and Ireland are the same place”, wrote Isidore of Seville. By drawing attention to the sectarian element in Glasgow’s gangland culture – the conflation of Catholic and ‘Irish’, and the collaboration of Unionist politicians with such Protestant gangs as the Billy Boys – Andrew Davies suggests that St Isidore’s remark was as true in…
The Stuart Passion for Secret Marriages
The House of Stuart seem to have been particularly prone to making secret marriages, but they were hardly the first royals to do so. Catherine of Valois, the French Princess who married the famous warrior king Henry V of England chose as her second husband Owen Tudor, a Welsh squire whom she allegedly met when…
Nightingales on Call by Donna Douglas
I approached this novel with trepidation – I enjoyed ‘Call The Midwife’ on TV but doctor / nurse romances are just not my thing at all. And yet this was a thoroughly good read. The fourth in a series of novels, this continues the story of a group of trainee nurses in the east end…
The Far Shore (Agent of Rome) By Nick Brown
Officer Cassius Corbulo is a Secret Agent for Imperial Rome. Yes! I didn’t know this job existed within the structure of the Roman Army! He is sent to the Greek Island of Rhodes by Chief Pulcher, Head of the Imperial Security Service to pick up some documents from Memor, his deputy. He arrives on the…
Learning how to be fashionable in the Forties…
This year I’m off to Salute to the ’40’s, a vintage festival at The Historic Dockyard Chatham. As dressing up in the style of the era is encouraged I decided to do a little research into 1940s fashion to give me some inspiration for the big weekend (pictures will follow!). So, what exactly did women…
The Beautiful and Intelligent Božena Němcová: one of the great Czech writers of the nineteenth century
There was once a young girl who lived with her mother, a Viennese maid, and her father, a coachman, in a servants’ cottage of a castle in northeastern Bohemia. She was beautiful, with raven-black hair and soft, pale skin, and this set her apart from her brothers and sisters. Although she was the apple of…
Secret Diary of Anne Boleyn By Robin Maxwell
A young woman with red hair rides full tilt on a horse in the blazing sunshine. Where she is found, another is sure to be nearby. Elizabeth I is the subject of this historical novel in which a mysterious old women hands over a moth eaten diary to the Queen of England. It’s supposedly written…
End of the Reign in Spain
The abdication of King Juan Carlos last month is the seventh time that the Spanish throne has been voluntarily vacated. While Britain’s own Edward VIII secured everlasting infamy by vacating his throne, it seems that abdication comes more easily to the monarchs in Madrid. Here’s a look at some of Juan Carlos’s abdicating predecessors… Charles V…
The Unusual History of Unusual Names
Every so often, a debate comes up in the newspapers about the names children today are given. This is generally following the release the ‘top baby names’ list for the past year alongside a ‘most unusual names’ list. These names tend to follow celebrity trends; although shortly after the last Lord of the Rings film…