Category: Uncategorized

I should make this clear from the off: I am the only member of the Honey team without a background in archaeology. So when this book arrived on my desk I instantly thought “oh god…will I do this review any credit?” But, as life is about pushing your own boundaries, I thought I’d give it…

The Black Death, the Inquisitions, World War II, World War I, and the Dark Ages, are the darkest periods of European history, according to a new study. In stark contrast, the historical moments considered to be the most prosperous are Ancient Rome, the Industrial Revolution, Ancient Greece, the 1960s, and current day. The Yesterday Historical Report was…

I came to appreciate comics not as an eager child awaiting their weekly Beano, but as a student. When faced with every undergraduate’s nemesis, The Dissertation (the capitals are very much needed!), I somehow settled upon exploring how comics and graphic novels have portrayed the Holocaust. Upon diving into the world of comics I discovered a fascinating…

Debra Daley is a longtime 18th-century obsessionalist. She talks about how she brought Georgian London to life in her new novel Turning the Stones. If such a thing as a past life exists, I think I must have lived one in London during the 18th century. I grew up in beachy New Zealand, which is just…

During the Second World War the German government used propaganda to control the ‘vision of women’. With that said, what exactly was the role of women in the Third Reich? The role of women was instilled into them from a young age.  The Nazi’s recognised the impact of indoctrinating the youth to instill the values…

Few historians have the courage to challenge entrenched views, or historical misconceptions. Onyeka is one of those historians, who in Blackamoores: Africans in Tudor England, Their Presence, Status and Origins invites us to relook at Tudor history. Onyeka has spent over fifteen years researching more than 250,000 documents from all over England: Blackamoores is the…

When George Beardsworth registered his claim for exemption from military service on grounds of conscience, he knew he would face a difficult path through the war. He would be labelled a coward, a shirker and much worse besides, but while he was prepared for this, he wasn’t prepared for the shocking level of brutality the…

There’s no escaping it: “Keane’s Company” is heavily indebted to Bernard Cornwell’s “Sharpe” series. Even the name of the central character – Keane – sounds like a pun on Sharpe, and it is unsurprising to find an endorsement from Cornwell on the cover of the paperback. With further titles in the offing (“Keane’s Company” concludes…

The European conquests of the Americas brought war, pestilence and death to the communities that populated the continent. Infecting of the Amerindian people with disease cultures to which their bodies where not accustomed caused wide spread devastation, especially in New England, where the population was so affected by small pox that the land seemed to…

Recently I’ve been enjoying books by Leanda de Lisle and Chris Skidmore, discussing the Tudor dynasty and their humble beginnings in Wales.  However, one shining character stands out to me in the story of the Tudors, one who steps out of the shadows of history; that of Henry V’s consort, Catherine of Valois.  The story…