Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms: Art, Word, War at the British Library has been hailed as “a once-in-a-generation exhibition“. Edoardo Albert finds that, in this giant treasure-hoard, the brightest jewels are often in the smallest details. Would you give a thousand acres of the best land for a book? Benedict Biscop, founder of the double monastery at Monkwearmouth-Jarrow, did. […]
Twisting the Tale
Author Chris Bishop discusses why writers of historical fiction don’t always adhere solely to the ‘facts’ – and why they sometimes shouldn’t. As a writer of historical fiction, I am frequently asked whether my work is based solely on fact. My stock answer is that I am a writer not a historian and, as such, […]
In Search of Mercia
Annie Whitehead on research roadblocks, and writing history when the evidence is elusive. I spend my life writing about the characters who inhabited ancient Mercia. The history of this Anglo-Saxon kingdom is full of colourful characters, some familiar – Lady Godiva and Æthelflæd, Lady of the Mercians – and some not so well-known, but no […]