Issue 11

Dan Jones is a medieval historian, author and award winning journalist. His latest book The Hollow Crown: The Wars of the Roses and the Rise of the Tudors is published by Faber and Faber and is out 4th September 2014.  What is an historian? Researcher, thinker, writer, storyteller, author, TV presenter, radio voice, lecturer, journalist, talking head. Tweeter. Truth-teller. Social …

Pick up a map of Europe, and you may notice that Spain will resemble an almost round fruit hanging from the sturdy trunk of mainland Europe. Geographically Spain flanks one side of the continent, but in terms of cultural capital, it held sway as the centre of the world for centuries. At its height, the regions we call now call …

It’s not every book that can boast to allow the reader a sneaky peak info what went on in Queen Victoria’s own wedding night, but then, The Victorian Guide to Sex by Fern Riddell is a surprising book indeed. It turns many of the commonly held perceptions of the Victorians attitudes towards sex on their heads, and has a unique …

British Folk Art Tate Britain, London, 10 June – 31 August 2014 I imagine them sitting together, heads huddled close, whispering, choosing what to embroider next: two dancing pigs, a peacock with a fabulous tail, an anchor, or a sprig of daisies. Over the course of a year, their quilt becomes filled with an eclectic mix of motifs, sewn by …

Every historian has had that moment, when they realise that the their perfect text existed once, but has since been irrecoverably lost. Here is a top five list of the texts, lost to time, I’d most like to get my hands on… 1. More of Sappho’s Poetry. Not much is known of Sappho beyond her glowing reputation in the classical …

Next year the Church of England will appoint its first female bishop and Hilary Clinton will decide whether to try for the US presidency. We might think that such manifestations of female power were novel. Feminist campaigners and male chauvinists alike could be surprised to learn that 500 years ago women held most of the top jobs in Europe. We …

Not a lot of attention (beyond Greece) is given to the Byzantine empire, this is in part because after a brief flourish after the end of the Roman Empire in the West the tale of this civilisation is one of constant, steady decline. However while Western Europe was mired in many wars of invasion after the collapse of the Roman …