Well, it seems that Gloucester is now the centre of the world. In a manner of speaking, of course, because the “Gloucester History Festival goes from the mythical Middle Ages to the modern Middle East”—see here. The 3-day festival , which ended on 14 April 2024, was a huge success and according to organisers it… Continue reading The Gloucester History Festival is a great success….
Tag: Dan Jones
Friday the thirteenth and the Templar curse….
Today is 13 March 2024, but thankfully it’s a Wednesday, not a Friday. Why thankfully? Well, we all know the old belief that Fridays which fall on the thirteenth day of a month are considered to be very unlucky. It occurred in October 2023, and will happen again in September and December this year, then… Continue reading Friday the thirteenth and the Templar curse….
Ten things you should know about the Battle of Shrewsbury….
My introduction to the Battle of Shrewsbury was at school, when Shakespeare’s Henry IV Part I had to be studied for ‘O’ levels. I didn’t like Henry IV then, and I don’t like him now. He was a usurper who murdered his cousin Richard II in order to plant his Lancastrian backside on the… Continue reading Ten things you should know about the Battle of Shrewsbury….
More historic walks on Channel Five
If it isn’t Rob Bell walking Britain’s Lost Battlefields or Railways, Dan Jones walking Britain’s Roman Roads, Suzannah Lipscomb walking “Tudor” England or Onyeka Nubia walking Victorian Britain, it is Arthur Williams (the former marine and pilot) walking Wartime Britain. This is a fascinating series in its own right, showing how areas of the country… Continue reading More historic walks on Channel Five
At last, some acknowledged fiction from Dan Jones….
As Ricardians, we’re not all that impressed with the work of Dan Jones and have long considered him to be an accomplished writer of fiction. Well, now he really is a writer of fiction, and the book described below, “Essex Dogs”, looks an exciting and excellent tale of a group of archers and others… Continue reading At last, some acknowledged fiction from Dan Jones….
Edward V and Coldridge: the evidence so far
Thanks to this Daily Telegraph article last December, the world is now far more aware of the distinct possibility that the former Edward V lived on as “John Evans” at Coldridge in Devon into the reign of Henry VIII, his nephew, as a parker minding deer for his half-brother Thomas Grey, Marquess of Dorset. In… Continue reading Edward V and Coldridge: the evidence so far
Dan Jones hits the road …
… Walking Britain’s Roman Roads, in fact. It is quite a good series, in which Jones explores some of the most important of these, together with some aspects of Romano-British Society. The first episode takes him the length of Watling Street, the first part of which is now he M2, during which he visits the… Continue reading Dan Jones hits the road …
A pleasant surprise
In recent years, Dan Jones’ posing and fanciful Crimewatch-style re-enactments, together with Starkeyesque conclusions formed before he started, has marred quite a few series on mediaeval history. Now he seems to have changed tack completely with this series, covering canal building from the middle of the eighteenth century and – yes – I rather enjoyed… Continue reading A pleasant surprise
Queen Joan? Oh, no she wasn’t….!
The illustration above is from Dan Jones’s book Summer of Blood: the Peasants’ Revolt of 1381. Part of the caption is “Queen Joan, Richard II’s mother, pleading with the rebels as the Savoy burned”. Elsewhere in the same book, Joan is referred to as the queen mother. According to Merriam Webster, the first known… Continue reading Queen Joan? Oh, no she wasn’t….!
Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow (3)
It would seem that, according to the Daily Mail (third feature), a certain most humble and lovable Tudor historian, has gone ahead and had a pricey and painful hair transplant. He announced this at the ‘Bad Sex in Fiction’ Awards. (Mind-boggling but also makes me wonder- why don’t we have the ‘Bad Gaffes in Historical… Continue reading Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow (3)
murreyandblue 