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Reviewed: What Regency Women Did For Us by Rachel Knowles
Regency women inhabited a very different world from the one in which we live today. Considered intellectually inferior to men, they received little education and had very few rights. This book tells the inspirational stories of twelve women, from very different backgrounds, who overcame often huge obstacles to achieve success. These women were pioneers, philanthropists Continue reading
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Reviewed: The Sister Queens, Isabel and Katherine de Valois by Mary McGrigor
Hardcover Edition Published May 1st, 2016, The History Press, 288 Pages Two sisters: born nine years apart to a mad French king during the turbulent years of the Hundred Years War, the bitter series of conflicts that set the House of Plantagenet against the House of Valois. Catherine de Valois, the beautiful young bride of Continue reading
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Reviewed: Blood and Blade by Matthew Harffy
Kindle Edition, Published December 1st 2016 by Aria. 318 Pages 635AD. Anglo-Saxon Britain. A gripping, action-packed historical thriller and third instalment in The Bernicia Chronicles. Perfect for fans of Bernard Cornwell. Oswald is now King of Northumbria. However, his plans for further alliances and conquests are quickly thrown into disarray when his wedding to a Continue reading
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The Last Kingdom Annotated- Final Two Episodes
Yes, yes I know. Late again. Things tend to build up, but here it is at last the (possibly) long-awaited conclusion to my series. So without further ado. Episode 7 & 8 The final episodes had to be for me, the most frustrating of all. The attempt at a corny love story, Aethelflead becoming a Continue reading
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Release Day!
It’s out, Aethelflead is on the loose. People who have pre-ordered should be getting their copies soon (in the UK, US readers have to wait until the 1st August), and an e-book edition should be following shortly for Kindle, Kobo and e-reader users. For those buying the traditional way, The Warrior Queen is now available Continue reading
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The Last Kingdom Annotated: Episode 4-6
I’m continuing my commentary on the second series of The Last Kingdom here. Episode 4: Uhtred gets revenge on his old enemy Kjartjan, who killed his adoptive Viking father and kidnapped his adoptive sister. Lots of fight scenes. Father Beocca, the former childhood Tutor to Uhtred, takes a liking to his long-lost sister. Not much Continue reading
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The Last Kingdom Annotated: Episode 1-3
I’ve decided to write a very brief commentary on Series Two of The Last Kingdom series, with a focus on those aspects which relate to King Alfred the Great and his family, who are of course the subjects of my book. As the question ‘Is it accurate?’ often comes up in relation to historical Fiction Continue reading
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How to Pronounce Æðelflǽd
Originally posted on Aethelflaed Rises: Opinions, or more often the practice of the pronunciation of the Anglo Saxon name Aethelflaed varies greatly, even amongst Historians. Note the difference of pronunciation between Martin Carver’s consistent /æðʊlflæd/ in his BBC Radio lecture and the pronunciations of Michael Wood in the video clip linked to on this blog. Prof.… Continue reading
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Julian of Norwich: A Very Brief History by Janina Ramirez
Kindle Edition Published 1st October 2016 by SPCK, 128 Pages. Over six hundred years ago a woman known as Julian of Norwich wrote what is now regarded as one of the greatest works of literature in English. Based on a sequence of mystical revelations she received in 1373, her book is called Revelations of Divine Continue reading
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‘The Only True Lancastrians’: or a Tale of Two Ladies named Blanche
There is a claim that is frequently put forward on social media, and even now on Television with the renewed interest in all thing relating to the Wars of the Roses. This is that Henry Tudor was not a ‘true Lancastrian’ or indeed a ‘true Plantagenet’. Some even take it as far as to suggest Continue reading
The History Lady 