Category: History Blogs

Dec 14th: The Anatomy Murders by Lisa Rosner

Published on by Kate BraithwaiteLeave a comment

“On Halloween night 1828, in the West Port district of Edinburgh, Scotland, a woman sometimes known as Madgy Docherty was last seen in the company of William Burke and William Hare. Days later, police discovered her remains in the surgery of the prominent anatomist Dr. Robert Knox. Docherty was the final victim of the most atrocious murder spree of the century, outflanking even Jack the Ripper’s. Together with their accomplices, Burke and Hare would be accused of killing sixteen people over the course of twelve months in order to sell the corpses as “subjects” for dissection. The ensuing criminal investigation into the “Anatomy Murders” raised troubling questions about the common practices by which medical men obtained cadavers, the lives of the poor in Edinburgh’s back alleys, and the ability of the police to protect the public from cold-blooded murder.

Famous among true crime aficionados, Burke and Hare were the first serial killers to capture media attention, yet The Anatomy Murders is the first book to situate their story against the social and cultural forces that were bringing early nineteenth-century Britain into modernity. In Lisa Rosner’s deft treatment, each of the murder victims, from the beautiful, doomed Mary Paterson to the unfortunate “Daft Jamie,” opens a window on a different aspect of this world in transition. Tapping into a wealth of unpublished materials, Rosner meticulously portrays the aspirations of doctors and anatomists, the makeshift existence of the so-called dangerous classes, the rudimentary police apparatus, and the half-fiction, half-journalism of the popular press.

The Anatomy Murders resurrects a tale of murder and medicine in a city whose grand Georgian squares and crescents stood beside a maze of slums, a place in which a dead body was far more valuable than a living laborer.” (Amazon blurb)

Why read The Anatomy Murders?

anatomy murdersIt’s not possible to grow up in Edinburgh without knowing certain stories. These include the murder of Lord Darnley, the story of Greyfriar’s Bobby and the body-snatching activities of Burke and Hare. I’ve been looking this afternoon for fictional retellings of their nasty little story but coming up empty handed so far. And this book by Lisa Rosner published in 2009 looks like the best non-fiction summary to be read. Of course there also the trials – I do love a primary source – and so if I do take the plunge with this book, I’ll certainly be reading the trial documents too.

Dec 8th: The World Broke in Two by Bill Goldstein

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“The World Broke in Two tells the fascinating story of the intellectual and personal journeys four legendary writers, Virginia Woolf, T. S. Eliot, E. M. Forster, and D. H. Lawrence, make over the course of one pivotal year. As 1922 begins, all four are literally at a loss for words, confronting an uncertain creative future despite success in the past. The literary ground is shifting, as Ulysses is published in February and Proust’s In Search of Lost Time begins to be published in England in the autumn. Yet, dismal as their prospects seemed in January, by the end of the year Woolf has started Mrs. Dalloway, Forster has, for the first time in nearly a decade, returned to work on the novel that will become A Passage to India, Lawrence has written Kangaroo, his unjustly neglected and most autobiographical novel, and Eliot has finished—and published to acclaim—“The Waste Land.”

As Willa Cather put it, “The world broke in two in 1922 or thereabouts,” and what these writers were struggling with that year was in fact the invention of modernism. Based on original research, Bill Goldstein’s The World Broke in Two captures both the literary breakthroughs and the intense personal dramas of these beloved writers as they strive for greatness.” (Amazon blurb).

Why read The World Broke in Two?

world in twoA while ago I reviewed a book called 1924, The Year that Made Hitler by Peter Ross Range. It was all about Hilter’s putsch and his time in prison writing Mein Kampf. I enjoyed it and learned a great deal and it’s because of that, really, that this book appeals to me. The twenties, which I grew up thinking were all about art deco and the charlston, was a really important decade in 20th century history and these writers – all of whom I’ve read and studied (although not loved by any means!) were living and thinking and writing at that time. Again, as I said when talking about Ten Restaurants that Shaped America, this is another interesting way to approach history writing.

It’s definitely on my TBR history pile for 2019.

 

 

December 7th: Silk and the Sword: the women of the Norman Conquest by Sharon Bennett Connolly

Published on by Kate BraithwaiteLeave a comment

“The momentous events of 1066, the story of invasion, battle and conquest, are well known. But what of the women?

Harold II of England had been with Edith Swanneck for twenty years but in 1066, in order to strengthen his hold on the throne, he married Ealdgyth, sister of two earls. William of Normandy’s Duchess, Matilda of Flanders, had supposedly only agreed to marry the Duke after he’d pulled her pigtails and thrown her in the mud. Harald Hardrada had two wives – apparently at the same time. So, who were these women? What was their real story? And what happened to them after 1066?

These are not peripheral figures. Emma of Normandy was a Norman married to both a Saxon and a Dane ‒ and the mother of a king from each. Wife of both King Cnut and Aethelred II, the fact that, according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, she had control of the treasury at the end of the reigns of both Cnut and Harthacnut suggests the extent of Emma’s influence over these two kings –and the country itself.

Then there is Saint Margaret, a descendant of Alfred the Great, and the less well known but still influential Gundrada de Warenne, the wife of one of William the Conqueror’s most loyal knights, and one of the few men who it is known beyond doubt was with the Duke at the Battle of Hastings.

These are lives full of drama, pathos and sometimes mystery: Edith and Gytha searching the battlefield of Hastings for the body of Harold, his lover and mother united in their grief for the fallen king. Who was Ælfgyva, the lady of the Bayeux Tapestry, portrayed with a naked man at her feet?

Silk and the Sword traces the fortunes of the women who had a significant role to play during the Norman Conquest – wives, lovers, sisters, mothers, leaders.” (Amazon blurb)

Why read Silk and the Sword?

silk and the sword1066, the Battle of Hastings, Harold with an arrow in the eye and the Norman conquest of Britain – that’s what I learned about at school. Definitely no women in the story and in fact I don’t really remember there being any women in the history I learned at school until Mary of Guise and Mary Queen of Scots in the 16th Century. Maybe that’s why I liked them so much!

But now things have changed. Reading this blurb I’m already feeling unhappy about the treatment of Edith Swanneck and Matilda of Flanders. No one deserves to get flung in the mud by their pigtails. Just think about how ouchy that would be!

Not only does this book look great, but Sharon Bennett Connolly has one of my fav history blogs – History the Interesting Bits – which is every bit as interesting as the name suggests.

2 weeks to go…

Published on by Kate BraithwaiteLeave a comment

With 2 weeks to go until the official publication date for The Road to Newgate, I thought I’d do a little update post on the kind of things keeping me busy/awake at night.

To party or not to party?

One of my main preoccupations in the last month or so has been trying to decide whether to have an actual in-person book launch. I am not good at such things and the whole look at me, look at me, aspect makes me feel deeply worried! Add to that that over here in the Mushroom Capital of America (aka the Kennett Square/West Chester area of Pennsylvania) we are already in week 3 of the long summer holidays and lots of people are away and… nope. No party planned.

Titus_OatesBUT… I am having an online launch on facebook. Not quite sure how this will go, but I’m hoping to do some giveways and have some friendly authors talking about books and particularly about the importance of antagonists to make stories exciting to read. I will talking about this unpleasant chap (among others!)

 

Here’s a link to that: Book launch for The Road to Newgate

 

Book blogs

Ah, book blogs. Book bloggers are awesome at a) reading lots of books and b) sharing their love of books. For The Road to Newgate I’m doing a couple of tours – one this week and another in August. I’ve also done some outreach of my own and so hopefully there will be people reading the book very soon and talking about how they found it. All fingers and toes are crossed. Links will be posted as things appear.

Writing about stuff about the book (Yay. This is the bit I love)

Recently I’ve written about 17th century coffee shops – very important to my character Nat but not the favourite place of his lovely wife Anne. Read that here.

I’ve also done a piece about jobs for women in the 17th century, a time when a married woman pretty much belonged to her husband. Read that one here.

And I have another coming out next week about childbirth and midwifery. Loved writing that one. Will post a link when it is published but here’s a picture from one of the books I refer to in the article, Jane Sharp’s The Midwives Book, published in 1671.

Other bits and bobs are in the works too.

Foetus_in_the_womb

Posting books

Today I posted off 2 signed copies of The Road to Newgate plus two of the little books my mum has made. One went to a friend’s mum, someone who super kindly read my last book as it struggled through the proof reading stages and helped me catch some late errors that the publisher had missed. And the other went to the winner of a blog giveway. It’s a funny thing to send your words out into the world!

New writing

Oh yes that. Mmm. Well it’s not easy to make a lot of progress during the summer with 3 kids at home and either demanding food or to be driven somewhere. Plus there is the World Cup and now Wimbledon to distract me. However, I am plotting and thinking and doing all that background stuff that will pay off when the time comes. Soon I hope!

Meet the blogger: “Party Like 1660”

Published on by Kate Braithwaite1 Comment

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Today I’m continuing to showcase the history blogs I read/love/admire by interviewing the writer behind Party Like 1660, a site devoted to all things Louis XIV written by Aurora Von Goeth.

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I’ll let Aurora introduce herself…

I am Aurora, a German 17th century historian with a passion for the time of Louis XIV, his court, its occupants and etiquette. Hopefully soon published author, orange tea drinker and mother of cats.

When did you start your blog and what was your motivation? How did you pick its name?
I started Party Like 1660 at the end of last year, so it is relatively new. My motivation for creating it was my love for French history, especially everything Louis XIV – something I have been fascinated with since my teen days. Over the years I collected a bit of knowledge about his court, something I used to call useless knowledge, since I had no place to share it. I always had the longing to share this knowledge, but was not quite sure how I should do it. I might also have been a little insecure. By the end of last year, Party Like 1660 was born and my first post was about Louis XIV being beaten up by his little brother Philippe.
The name for my blog dates back to a old picture sharing one I used to run years ago, but do not have anymore, and I thought it was the perfect name for what I had in mind with this history blog. The 1660’s were certainly the fun years during the Sun King’s reign, with plenty of festivities and gossip. The first ever garden party in Versailles was held in the 1660’s and it lasted a week.

Has your blog turned out the way you anticipated?
I anticipated and still anticipate for this blog to be a bit of a encyclopedia on the court of Louis XIV: something that features short biographies of the people who lived there,  articles on important events, court gossip, a easy guide on 17th century etiquette, which is one of my favourite topics, and place to share little known but very interesting happenings. After a bit less than a year of blogging, we are well on the way of getting somewhere and the resonance is quite satisfying.

What is your best blog-related moment?
My best blog related moment or moments are the kind comments and messages I receive for my reviews of the BBC Two series Versailles. In them I invite my readers to have a closer look at the history behind the show and explain what we see on screen in a historical context.

What’s your favourite post?
There are several that I like much, like the Versailles reviews or Louis XIV’s morning routine, but my favourite is the one about Philippe de Lorraine also know as the Chevalier de Lorraine. It was the first “larger” thing I wrote, already before the blog was born, and currently it is the most detailed article on the internet about him, of which I am a little proud. He is one of my favourite historical persons as well and very interesting. Information about him is quite sparse too. I guess that is another reason why it is my fave post.

philippe_de_lorraine_dit_le_chevalier_de_lorraine_1643_-_1702

How to you pick what to write about?
It is pretty much always random. I have a little self created calendar of important dates, thus I write about those when they come up, but mostly I pick the topics randomly. There are many things I want to write about in the future, like Nicolas Fouquet and Vaux-le-Vicomte or how one of Louis’ mistresses chased after the Queen’s carriage.  Some topics I wrote about so far have been suggested or influenced by my lovely Twitter followers. For example “The Last Days Of Louis XIV”, in this case my followers wished for day-today updates instead of one long post on the matter.

Do you have a schedule for posting and/or a favourite social media platform?
I do not have a schedule and post whenever I find time.  Twitter, clearly. I love Twitter because it is quite simple to use and you can meet great people there.

What are your go-to sources for research?
My collections of books, both in English and German, various diaries, like the one of Dangeau. It is brilliant. Also the archives of Chateau de Versailles and Gallica of the Bibliothèque nationale de France along with the letters of the time.

Do you have other writing projects you are involved in?
Yes. My first book, which I made together with Jules Harper, is nearly finished. It is a short biography of Louis XIV, that also covers topics that aren’t too well known, like various health issues. Another book is in planning: it will be a collection of court anecdotes, and after it perhaps a short biography about Versailles or Louis XIV’s brother Philippe.

If you could go back in time and be one historical character or live in one era which would it be?
If I could go back in time, I certainly would be a mignon. Those were the closer friends of Philippe de France. I would live in Saint-Cloud, the little sister of Versailles, and be merry.  If I could travel back in time for commercial use, I would probably be some kind of tour guide that helps 21th century people to survive court life by teaching the who-is-who and etiquette.

Are you a historical fiction fan? If yes, what/who do you love to read? If not, why not?!
I don’t read much historical fiction. I never really did. There are some great stories out there, but I am a rather critical reader, especially when the work is French history related. I pay attention to details nobody else would probably notice, which is a bit of a kill joy for myself. On the other hand, it is rather great for helping authors of historical fiction, something I do as well, with their work. Sometimes the devil is really in the detail.

Reading that last answer makes me even happier (relieved!) that Aurora liked my novel Charlatan, calling it “a captivating tale”. Thank you again for reading it Aurora 🙂

 

Meet the blogger: “History the Interesting Bits”

Published on by Kate Braithwaite5 Comments

screen-shot-2016-10-06-at-11-17-53-amToday I’m beginning a series of interviews with history bloggers – a great source for writers and history lovers in general. I’m delighted to start with Sharon Connolly who writes one of my absolutely favourite history blogs, History The Interesting Bits! Sharon has a great eye for an interesting story and I particularly like her mini biographies.

I’ll let Sharon introduce herself…

sharonI have been fascinated by history for over 30 years now. I have studied history academically and just for fun – I’ve even worked as a tour guide at historical sites. I’m now having great fun, passing on my love of the past to my 11-year-old son, who is a Horrible Histories fanatic. He is a fantastic research assistant and loves exploring historic sites with me. I started writing my blog in January 2015 and in March this year signed a contract with Amberley to write my first book, Heroines of the Medieval World, which will hopefully be in the shops next year.

When did you start your blog and what was your motivation? How did you pick its name? I had always wanted to write, but never really had the courage, until my husband gave me the blog as a Christmas present in 2014. I’d had the name for years – I always said I would write a book called History the Interesting Bits (I still might), so it was the ideal name for the blog.

Has your blog turned out the way you anticipated? I love researching and writing for the blog, especially writing about the less known characters from history. I never expected many people to read it – it was just my chance to write about what I loved. But the response has been incredible and it’s so nice when someone sends me a message, saying ‘Wow! That was really interesting’. I spend the rest of the day smiling from ear to ear.

What is your best blog-related moment? There are 2, really. For me, personally, I think it has to be the moment I clicked ‘publish’ on my first post – and then getting comments from people saying how much they enjoyed reading it. I had had no expectations that anyone would read what I wrote, it was just the chance for me to write and to realise that other people found it interesting was quite a revelation to me. The second moment was when I published my son’s homework, Diary of Charles II and everyone was so kind and encouraging to him. He spent an hour after getting home from school, reading the comments everyone had left.

What’s your favourite post? My article about Nicholaa de la Haye. She was the castellan of Lincoln Castle and I’d never heard of her until I visited Lincoln last year. She was an incredible woman, incredibly independent in a time when women weren’t allowed to be. She was the reason I started looking into Medieval women and realised there was so much more to them than being obedient to their husbands and having babies.

How to you pick what to write about? Most of my articles tend to follow on from each other, in a way. Every time I research one person, 2 or 3 other interesting people pop up. So I keep a list of people I would like to find out more about and they invariably turn into articles.

Do you have a schedule for posting and/or a favourite social media platform? I try to post something every week, but now I’m writing the book, that is often an unrealistic aim. So, my target now is once every 2 weeks, and sometimes I’ll put a book review in between articles – they take less research. As for social media, I use Twitter and Facebook. I’m still trying to get a handle on Twitter, but I love Facebook and find it a fantastic way to connect with people – it’s a great way to get feedback and encouragement, and I have learnt so much from so many people, about writing and about history. I have a Facebook page for the blog, from where I share all my posts, and then I post the articles in relevant groups, where I hope people will find them interesting.

What are your go-to sources for research? My books, mainly. I have been collecting history books since I was a kid and have piles of them at the side of my desk; I have books on everything from ancient Greece to the Vietnam War – and most eras in between. I also love the internet – British History Online, the pipe rolls of Henry III and the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography are all at my fingertips. It’s amazing!

Do you have other writing projects you are involved in? I have done a chapter on Tudor women in Lincolnshire for a book that will hopefully be out next year, and I’m in the process of writing Heroines of the Medieval World for Amberley. The book has been a steep learning curve, but I’m enjoying the process and can’t wait to hold the finished product in my hands. The hardest part is deciding who to leave out to keep the book within the 110,000-word limit. There’s so many incredible medieval women who deserve to have their story told.

If you could go back in time and be one historical character or live in one era which would it be? I don’t think I could pick one. I’d love to spend a week in each; to see the siege of Troy, Cleopatra, Boudicca’s rebellion, the Wars of the Roses…. If I had to pick one, I suppose I would choose King Arthur – just to see if he was real.

muralPhoto credit: Wojciech Pudło

Are you a historical fiction fan? If yes, what/who do you love to read? If not, why not?! I love historical fiction, ever since reading Dumas’ The Three Musketeers and Bernard Cornwell’s Sharpe novels as a teenager. I can’t get enough of it. I love historical action, rather than romance, and it has to be historically accurate as possible, otherwise I just get irritated at the inaccuracies. These days I still love Bernard Cornwell, and am grateful that he releases a new book every October, just before my birthday. I also love Derek Birks, Anna Belfrage, Michael Jecks, Glynne Iliffe, Paul Collard…. The list is endless. There’s so many fantastic writers out there these days.

I can’t recommend Sharon’s blog highly enough and I only wish my 11 year old was as interested in my writing as Sharon’s is!!

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