Excuse Me, is This the Talk about Postmodern Naval Masculinity or the One about Sodomy and National Identity?
My original plan for this week’s blog was to post Part 3 of my personal ‘top twenty’ castles. However, I spent the last three days of last week at the big ‘Navy and Nation’ conference at the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, and thought I’d share some thoughts about that; the castles will be back next […]
Castles in the Air, Part 2
Another installment of my personal ‘top twenty’ of castles that I’ve visited. Third and final part to come next week! Devin Castle, Slovakia – A few years ago, some friends who were living in Bratislava at the time took us to visit Devin, which isn’t far from the city. It’s an evocative relic of the time […]
Castles in the Air, Part 1
Castles kicked it all off for me – ‘all’ being the lifelong interest in history, leading ultimately to a career teaching it and a second career writing about it. A visit to Pembroke Castle when I was five years old proved to be the catalyst, and a year or so later, when my parents and […]
The Dai is Cast
All novelists have a secret fantasy. Actually, it’s not terribly secret. It’s the cast list. Yes, admit it, my fellow authors, you know what I’m talking about. That cast list. The one for the film of your book – the lavish Hollywood spectacular or BBC mini-series based on our purple prose, the prize that we all dream about. […]
