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TV review: The Windermere Children

27 January 2020 By James Burge

The Windermere Children (BBC 2, 27 January, 2020) follows the true story of a group of children, recently freed from concentration camps who, in 1945, were brought to Windermere for four months of rehabilitation under the auspices of child psychologist Oscar Friedmann (Thomas Kretschmann) and philanthropist Leonard Montefiore (Tim McInnerny). Made to be transmitted on […]

TV review: The Crown, season 3

23 November 2019 By James Burge

The timing couldn’t be better. The Crown(season 3)returns to TV screens in a week when the Royal Family is back in the headlines and the role of its members is once again being questioned. And with Olivia Colman in the title role, playing a very different kind of queen from the one she gave us […]

Review: Charles I: Downfall of a King

8 July 2019 By James Burge

Charles I: Downfall of a King (BBC Four, 9 July, 2019) reviewed by James Burge for Historia magazine

Review: Civilisations

1 March 2018 By James Burge

Civilisations (Episode 1, BBC2 Thursday 1st March, 9:00pm) is about history in two senses. On the one hand there is the story of the hard-to-define stuff we call civilisation, now quite rightly pluralised to include other cultures, on the other there is the history of television itself. It is nearly fifty years since Kenneth Clark […]

Review: Gunpowder

25 October 2017 By James Burge

Gunpowder (Episode 1/3, BBC One, 21/10/2017) follows the motivation and execution of an act of terrorism. I am aware that the use of that word is both anachronistic and subject to technical objections so I will clarify by saying that it is an example of  violent action by individuals against executives of the state. We […]

Review: Victoria and Abdul

19 September 2017 By James Burge

Victoria and Abdul (dir: Stephen Frears) is the latest example of an established genre of films which has developed the trick of holding up a mirror to the British as a people, seeing a certain amount of ugliness but then managing to come up smelling of roses. The ugliness we see is usually something along […]

Versailles Season 2: Episode 1

19 April 2017 By James Burge

Which is your favourite Blackadder series? The Elizabethan one where Miranda Richardson redefines the Virgin Queen for all time? The Regency one? Or perhaps Blackadder Goes Forth, the WWI series with its final ascent into poignant seriousness. They are all good but I bet not one of you gave a thought to Series One. You […]

British History’s Biggest Fibs With Lucy Worsley

24 January 2017 By James Burge

British History’s Biggest Fibs With Lucy Worsley (Episode 1/3, 26 January, BBC Four) opens with an account of the Wars of the Roses. Lucy Worsley lurches in pursuit of a retreating camera, talking of constant warfare. The corners of her mouth remain upturned in a conspiratorial smirk even when she mentions the slaughter of children. […]

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The Prophet by Martine Bailey

26 February 2021

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25 February 2021

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25 February 2021

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Editor’s Picks

The slave ship Zong by Turner

A respectable trade in brutality: Blood & Sugar

18 February 2019

Fortune-telling cards

Did time run slower in the old days? My year living by almanack time

7 January 2019

Lady Constance Lytton: The Suffering Suffragette

5 February 2018

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Historia Magazine is published by the Historical Writers’ Association. We are authors, publishers and agents of historical writing, both fiction and non-fiction. For information about membership and profiles of our member authors, please visit our website.

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