The Edge of the Empire: A Journey to Britannia
In this strikingly original history of Roman Britain, Bronwen evokes the smells, sounds, colors, and sensations of life in the second century.
The Real History Behind Game of Thrones
The seventh, and penultimate, season of HBO’s Game of Thrones is coming to an end. As I spend hours every week watching, listening, reading and consuming all things GoT, I’ve begun to wonder how I will survive the yearlong (or more) wait for season eight. I recently read an interview in which George R.R. Martin attributed parts of his epic fantasy to historic events and people. Check out the books below to see how Hadrian’s Wall influenced the story of the North and the Whitewalkers, how the Battle of the Five Kings bears a striking resemblance to England’s Wars of the Roses and how wildfire was based on an actual weapon used by the ancient Greeks of Constantinople.
Blood Sisters: The Women Behind the Wars of the Roses
A richly drawn, absorbing epic, Blood Sisters is a tale of hopeful births alongside bloody deaths, of romance as well as brutal pragmatism. It is a story of how women, and the power that women could wield, helped to end the Wars of the Roses, paving the way for the Tudor age–and the creation of modern England.
Greek Fire, Poison Arrows, and Scorpion Bombs: Biological and Chemical Warfare in the Ancient World
Weapons of biological and chemical warfare have been in use for thousands of years. Greek Fire, Poison Arrows & Scorpion Bombs draws extraordinary connections between the mythical worlds of Hercules and the Trojan War, the accounts of Herodotus and Thucydides, and modern methods of war and terrorism.