One hundred years ago on October 5th 1915 a tired and under strength division of British soldiers landed on the quay at Salonika in northern Greece. The Bulgarian army, part of the Axis forces, were closing in on the borders of Macedonia. They had routed the Serbian Army which was… Read More »The Salonika Campaign Remembered by Loretta Proctor
Throughout history, people have regarded the profession of public executioner much as they regarded that of the undertaker. From the point of view of the layperson, the undertaker’s job had a massive “ick” factor attached, usually originating from a superstitious dread of human corpses and, by extension, of the people… Read More »An Unsuitable Job for a Gentleman by Susanne Alleyn
[Spoiler alert! If you don’t know the story of Les Misérables and want to see the film without already knowing a lot of plot points, including the ending, then stop right now.] I’ll be the first to admit that I am a shameless Les Mis fan. I’ve always loved the story,… Read More »No, It’s Not Actually the French Revolution: Les Misérables and History by Susanne Alleyn
“Truth isn’t in accounts but in account books.” Josephine Tey, The Daughter of Time You’d think that a history geek who’s passionately interested in a particular historical period, and who has made something of a career writing about it, would be delighted when she discovers more fiction set in… Read More »Propaganda, Clichés, and History by Susanne Alleyn
Creatures of Conscience in a Scary World For such a small historical (84K), The Scattered Proud is difficult to talk about. It’s too personal, I suppose: founded upon questions and subjects that have fascinated me since I was a child. In fact, several years ago, when I first blogged the opening chapters,… Read More »The Scattered Proud by Gev Sweeney