Of Visions and Dragons
One of the curses for authors of historical fiction often occurs during the search for details related to our current works-in-progress. We love history and we love research. We are curious about the… Continue reading
Category Archive: British History
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A Brief but Spectacular Life
My interest in the footnotes of history and lesser-known heroes have led me to a woman of whom I had not heard until I stumbled upon her in my research. American women owe… Continue reading
Finding Jamestown
Did you know there are two Jamestowns to visit? It is a bit disconcerting when you follow the Colonial Parkway and come to signs pointing in two directions. We went straight, toward Historic… Continue reading
Diversity in Canada, A Second Look
Sometimes those “Today in History” feeds give me ideas for stories, and sometimes they broaden my thinking. That happened this week. February 2019 marks the 177th anniversary of the proclamation in Canada of… Continue reading
Assembly Rooms: Party Time
If you’ve ever had to arrange a venue for a large celebration of some kind, you know the difficulty in finding a place the offers space to accommodate a large number of guests,… Continue reading
The First Christmas Card
Love them or hate them, it’s time to send and receive Christmas cards. Which makes me wonder–how did this practice ever come about anyway? The postal service was not used by ordinary folks… Continue reading
The Rise of Muhammad Ali Pasha
Lately I’ve been envisioning stories set in 1840, with an interest in Egypt. When I began to survey the historical landscape I kept coming back to Egypt. In many ways the fate of… Continue reading
Unforeseen Consequences
If our principles are right, why should we be cowards? Lucretia Mott Ah, but which principles. High minded reformers don’t always see eye to eye. John Adams and Thomas Jefferson may have both… Continue reading
Tea, Taxes, and War
Historians suggest a variety of causes for the Opium Wars. Some declare the cause to be “extraterritoriality,” the refusal of one sovereign nation, in this case, the United Kingdom, to allow their citizens… Continue reading
The Prince of Fraud
In an era of British imperial expansion, with limited social mobility at home, men with ambition, energy, and imagination looked to the wide world for opportunities to make their fortune. It didn’t seem odd… Continue reading