When you sit down to your Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners you may not realise it but you are about to enjoy dishes once presented and eaten at the court of Henry VIII and his queen, Katharine of Aragon. In America, according to popular belief, the Thanksgiving Dinner celebrates the survival of the first year the… Continue reading Food Fit for Kings
A Review. If you enjoyed the TV series Versailles, then I suggest you read Josephine Wilkinson’s biography of Louis XIV: The Real King of Versailles, published in 2019. Sketch of Louis XIV c1655. Charles le Brun (1619 - 1690). In anticipation of Dr Wilkinson’s forthcoming book, The Man in the Iron Mask (US. Pegasus, 6th July… Continue reading Louis XIV: The Real King of Versailles. Josephine Wilkinson
This magnificent book by Dr Evans, senior curator of paintings and water colours at London’s Victoria & Albert Museum, is a must for those interested in early modern and Renaissance art. Published in July 2020, this catalogue accompanied an exhibition. Sadly, I never made it to the museum in South Kensington due to the pandemic, but having… Continue reading Renaissance Watercolours : From Durer to Van Dyck. By Mark Evans. A review.
A short story by Josephine Wilkinson There’s something about a garden in the early autumn, don’t you think? In spring, the plants, the shrubs and trees hold out their promise for the coming season, but the autumn sees them begin to take on their colourful winter foliage or shed it all together. As I surveyed… Continue reading ‘One Morning at Versailles’
a Guest post by Ian Robertson, MA. Why is the Royal Navy of the late 18th and early 19th Centuries referred to as ‘Nelson’s Navy’? As is so often the case, the simplest of answers is the right one. England had been at war, on and off, during this period and if a war is going to maintain… Continue reading NELSON’S NAVY
Melanie V Taylor 