aBurntShip

                                A Lost Classic or 400 Year Old Flop?                                                           Readers of a certain age may remember Patrick Stewart's remarkable portrayal of Sejanus in the BBC television dramatisation of Robert Graves's I Claudius. Lucius Aelius Sejanus was a prefect of the Praetorian Guard during the reign of Tiberius. Famous for becoming the effective ruler of the Empire, whilst Tiberius sunk into a debauched old age and despondency, frequently absent from Rome.  Sejanus tumbled from power during one single day in AD 31 and was delivered up to the mob over a week later.  The whole affair became a subject for Ben Jonson's play Sejanus His Fall, a controversial and much neglected play, performed in 1...

             King James VI / I and Witchcraft Steven Veerapen is a Scottish academic, historian, and successful historical novel writer, focusing largely on the 16th century and early 17th century. His latest book is 'Witches-A king's Obsession' , published by Birlinn, 2025 in hardback.                                    Steven Veerapen is certainly well qualified to write about the Jacobean era : His previous works include biographies of James VI & I, 'The Wisest Fool   (2023) and his wife Anna of Denmark ' Queen in Two Kingdoms  (2022) .  There is a helpful background in this book showing how witchcraft and magic were viewed in past centuries. A turning point was the publication and circulation of the  Witch hunting manual  Malleus Maleficarum by Heinrich Kramer (1487), aided by the rise of the printing press...

                                            NEW AND IMPROVED SECOND EDITION 2025   Pity for the Guy ( Peter Owen publishers Ltd.)    first appeared in 2010. The revised edition is now available on kindle, but a paperback edition will be available soon, The author , John Paul Davis, is a historian and a successful writer of historical thrillers.  Although there was some interest in the Gunpowder Treason with the 1605-2005 anniversary, biographies of Guy Fawkes were in short supply for such a renowned figure. Pity for the Guy was a welcome addition to Gunpowder Treason studies, being well researched from the perspective of a historian but lively enough for the reader who knows little about the subject. This era is full of conspiracies, spies, intrigue,codes, with a large cast of historical figures. Another Guy Fawkes biography has appeared Nick Holland's The Re...

                                                       A Jacobean test of Loyalty ?      Sir William Parker (1578-1622),13th Baron Morley, inherited the title the 4th  Lord Monteagle: For the purposes of this post, the modern spelling of the title Lord Monteagle will be used..Other variants included Lord 'Mounteagle' or 'Mownteagle'.                                   The Monteagle Letter, is the most famous anonymous communication in British History. And perhaps the first British bomb scare. A deadly warning to Lord Monteagle -a Roman Catholic- who was due to take his seat in the House of Lords at the state opening of Parliament- on 5th November 1605. Who wrote or perhaps dictated, and delivered  the letter, is still disputed today. In ...

    A biography by Mark Turnbull -published by 'Pen & Sword'  Mark Turnbull is aptly qualified to write a biography of Charles I: He has written four well researched novels set during the British and Irish Civil Wars, and runs the 'Cavalier Podcast' series. Mr Turnbull has also appeared as a speaker on the Civil War history circuit.  This is the author's  the first non fiction work, and as Mr Turnbull already has the skill to make history interesting, the biography is ultimately a success. Also as a Civil War specialist, the author is more pro-Royalist whilst objective enough to look at the broader picture so to speak. The book is well footnoted, including references to  source material from the National Archives. .  I t is fair to say that the author seems quite distanced from the stance taken by historians such as Christopher Hill, who focused on alleged underlying  socio- economic causes of the conflict. Overall the emphasis is firmly place...

                                        The Lavish Life of James VI and 1                                           Steven Veerapen is an esteemed Scottish academic and fiction writer drawing on the late 16th century. His biography of Anna of Denmark, wife to James VI/1 was published in 2022, and Mr Veerapen has also written a non fiction book on Mary Queen of Scots-'Blood Feud-Mary Queen of Scots and Lord Moray' amongst other works . Over half the book deals with James's upbringing in Scotland and his kingship there. The focus on Scottish history is well done. The author works hard to try and explain the complex rivalries between the factions of Scottish nobility that could easily break out into armed fighting. The author makes an important distinction is made between the English Refo...