The Drunken Hen Isn’t the Whopper
First and foremost, apologies for the lack of blogging of late, caused by a complete inability to think of things to blog about – presumably caused in turn by lockdown ennui. Actually, though, lockdown has proved to be quite productive for me: Books read – not really keeping count, but somewhere in the region of […]
Taking the Helm
I’m hugely honoured to have recently become acting chairman of the Society for Nautical Research. I feel very humble about taking this position and following in the footsteps of some very distinguished former incumbents, including my immediate predecessor, Admiral Sir Kenneth Eaton, who will be a very hard to act to follow. It’s obviously a […]
Armada’s Wake – the Cover Reveal!
Following on directly from last week’s post, where I announced that the third book in the ‘Jack Stannard of the Navy Royal’ trilogy is named Armada’s Wake, I’m now delighted to unveil its cover! Yet again, the lovely people at Canelo have done me proud – I thought the first two covers, for Destiny’s Tide and Battle’s […]
Wake for a Lockdown
A long, long time ago, when very old people still remembered what the words ‘pubs’, ‘sport’ and ‘handshakes’ meant, I started writing a book. This was to be the third title in my trilogy set in the sixteenth century, ‘Jack Stannard of the Navy Royal’, and until now has had a cunningly disguised provisional work-in-progress […]
Pepys in the Time of Coronavirus
I wasn’t going to blog during this strange and troubling time, but all of a sudden the seventeenth century has become the go-to period for historical parallels, and my old friend Samuel Pepys has seen a huge upsurge in interest – even earning the ultimate accolade of an opinion piece in the New York Times. […]
Saving the London
If I say ‘seventeenth century naval history’, what’s the first place which springs to mind? The Vasa Museum in Stockholm, perhaps? Amsterdam? Chatham? Ampthill? (OK, yes, that last one would just be me, then…) Wherever you’ve thought of, I’ll bet it’s not Southend-on-Sea, home to shrimps, Kiss-me-Quick hats and the longest pleasure pier in the world. But […]
