Fascinated by the glamour and ghastliness of life in the 1500s, his books show a penchant for myths, mysteries and murders in an age in which the law was as slippery as those who defied it...
My Books
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Coming soon
I am now deeply into Henry VIII’s reign. Following his gruelling adventures in Of Blood Descended, Anthony Blanke will return in 2023. This time, he will face murder and madness in Cardinal Wolsey’s court, when a visiting enemy of the lord chancellor is found stabbed to death with a fire poker. Famous faces to watch out for will include Sir Thomas More, Lord Henry Percy, and Anne Boleyn.
Additionally, on the nonfiction side, I’m turning my attention slightly from Anna of Denmark and working on a full-length biography of her husband, the profligate, bisexual, utterly endearing, endlessly infuriating King James VI and I – under the provisional title of The Private Life of King James. Expect scandal, murder, treachery, and masques.
Academic
My research interests lie predominantly in the field of early modern literature. In particular, I am interested in the pre-Stuart foundations of the verse libel and the legal machinations of the early modern state in licensing, censoring and banning texts in the pursuit of state-sponsored national narratives. I am also interested in the relationship between the British nations before, during and following the Reformation; their respective European links; and resultant literary representations of English and Scottish national identities.
Published in 2017 in Early Modern Literary Studies and available here:
Published in 2017 in the Journal of the Northern Renaissance and available here:
Published in 2016 in Early Modern Literary Studies and available here:
Published in 2013 in the Journal of the Northern Renaissance and available here:
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The image of the elderly Virgin Queen that has been passed down to us is not always necessarily complimentary.
In this rogue’s gallery, I’ll be judging ten reputed nasties of the era and considering whether they deserve to be reviled or reassessed…
The Tudor era has spawned a welter of myths, legends, and misconceptions, some of which have been frustratingly long-lived.
The Tudor Age is often characterised as bloody, thanks to the period’s religious conflicts, the executions carried out following multiple treason trials, and the horrific retributions meted out wholesale on rebels.
For a period so well studied, there remain a number of important things about the Tudor era we simply don’t know. Less surprisingly, there are numerous incidents and issues over which people disagree (sometimes passionately).
The sinking of the RMS Titanic remains one of the most recognisable disasters in world history. Still, with numerous screen versions of the shipwreck and countless books telling and retelling the story, the Titanic continues to cast a spell.
Given the popularity of the Tudor era, it’s no surprise that scholars and novelists have advanced a whole range of theories about the dynasty and its people.
Here is my rundown of Ten Tudor Troublemakers: the bad boys and girls who caused the Tudor monarchs numerous sleepless nights.
These might have cost careers, they might have cost heads, they might have cost reputations – or they might have cost the people of England.
Here are my Top 10 Tudor Secrets: the things the Tudor monarchs (and their politicians) really didn’t want us to know the truth about.
What you’ll find here are my top ten performances (with the best winning the Number One spot) and the reasons why these actresses (and their productions) deserve your attention.
A female sovereign who sought to play the king rather than the queen. It was, in fact, Mary Queen of Scots who was sixteenth-century Britain’s active and energetic warrior-queen
In this article, I attempt to answer the question: ‘why does the popularity of the Tudor dynasty show no signs of flagging?’ Allow me to suggest three key reasons…
James VI of Scotland and I of England has been ill-served by history. Largely, this is because his reigns in both kingdoms came in the wake of icons...
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