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Coming up on HistoryExtra.com

Coming up on HistoryExtra.com Here’s a selection of the exciting content that’s coming up on our website historyextra.com The real musketeers The three musketeers, made famous by Alexandre Dumas and the many films his stories inspired, are among the best-known figures from ancien regime France. Moreover, the heroes of Dumas’ stories – d’Artagnan, Athos, Porthos […]

Q&A

Q&A A selection of historical conundrums answered by experts Were there female gladiators in ancient Rome? Although gladiatorial combat was predominantly a male domain, female gladiators did exist. They were mostly slaves or prisoners of war, and catered to audiences with a taste for the unusual. The promoters of female gladiators often took inspiration from […]

Letters

Your letters LETTER OF THE MONTH Alternative medicine Helen Rappaport’s article on Mary Seacole (April) was fascinating, but Seacole wasn’t the only “alternative” to Florence Nightingale. Betsi Cadwaladr, from Bala in north Wales, spent many months working with the troops on the front lines, providing warm food, bandaging wounds and caring for the men. Cadwaladr […]

Travel to: Trieste, Italy

TRAVEL TO… TRIESTE, ITALY Adriatic outpost of empires There’s a distinctive “otherness” to this coastal city. Trieste sits on a thin finger of Italian soil curled around the head of the Adriatic Sea, close to the border with Slovenia and about 25 miles from Croatia. It has a very singular history – albeit one touched […]

Explore: Hever Castle, Kent

EXPLORE… HEVER CASTLE, KENT Romantic fantasy Medieval stronghold, luxurious Tudor residence, American millionaire’s bolthole: Hever Castle harmoniously recalls a variety of past identities. CHRISTOPHER HARDING explores Anne Boleyn’s childhood home Approaching from a distance, down a pathway and across a wooden bridge, Hever Castle looks as though it has had an enormous can of green […]

History cookbook

HISTORY COOKBOOK Creme à la Carême This French dessert is named after Marie-Antoine Carême, the famous early 19th-century chef who devised sumptuous banquets for the prince regent, later George IV. This recipe serves 10 to 12 people. Difficulty: 5/10 Time: 5 hours 15 mins INGREDIENTS 18 sponge fingers 100ml kirsch 135g orange jelly, made up […]

History on the airwaves

HISTORY ON THE AIRWAVES “We’ve been sending vinegar flies into orbit since 1947. I wish they went up in little space suits” DR ERICA MCALISTER (pictured), fly expert and senior curator at the Natural History Museum, tells us about her returning series Metamorphosis: How Insects Transformed Our World What’s the premise of the series? There’s […]

Diary

Diary VISIT / WATCH / LISTEN By Jonathan Wright and Rhiannon Davies VISIT Here be Vikings This spring, the Jorvik Viking Festival returns to York after an extended pandemic-related hiatus, and it promises to be bigger than ever. Traditional highlights – such as the Viking camp in Parliament Street and the march to Coppergate, during […]

Also on the bookshelf

Also on the bookshelf WORDS BY RHIANNON DAVIES & MATT ELTON FICTION Lion by Conn Iggulden Michael Joseph, 400 pages, £20 Conn Iggulden is no stranger to the ancient world, having written best-sellers set in Rome and Sparta. In Lion he revisits Greece, this time following the fortunes of Pericles, famous statesman of Athens. The […]