Journalism
Here is a select list of recent work. I write a regular column for the London Evening Standard, of which only a few examples appear below. (For a full archive, click here.) Commissioning editors, please see the ‘Contact’ page…
Book review 7 January 2012 ‘Blood Cries Afar: The Forgotten Invasion of England 1216′ by Sean McGlynn. Click here.
Source: The Spectator
Christmas books 2011 The best of the year’s history books, from the Telegraph, this year. Read it here.
Source: The Telegraph
Book review 10 December 2011 ‘The Age of Chivalry: Culture and Chivalry in Medieval Europe 950-1450′, by Hywel Williams. Read it here.
Source: The Spectator
Book review 2 September 2011 ‘Soldiers: Army Lives from Redcoats to Dusty Warriors’, by Richard Holmes. Read it here.
Source: The Telegraph
Book review 24 August 2011 ‘The Following Game’ by Jonathan Smith. A beautifully written memoir about sport, heroism and fatherhood. Wonderful. Read it here.
Source: The New Statesman
Comment 11 August 2011 Similarities between the London riots of 1381 and the Peasants’ Revolt of 2011. Or is it the other way around? Read it here
Source: The Evening Standard
Book review 2 July 2011 ‘Sister Queens’ by Julia Fox. A dual biography of Katherine of Aragon and Juana of Castile. Particularly interesting on the latter. Read it here.
Source: The Spectator
Christmas books 2010 My choice of the year’s finest history books appeared in The Times on Saturday 20 November 2010. If you’re a subscriber, you can read the piece here.
Source: The Times
Book review 18 September 2010 - Two recent book reviews from the Spectator. The first is Katie Whitaker’s history of Charles I’s marriage. The second is about Anne Boleyn.
Source: The Spectator
Book review 27 January 2010 - Review of ‘Empires of the Imagination’, by Holger Hoock. Includes highly strung ranting at no extra cost. Click here to read.
Source: The Spectator
Comment 11 January 2010 - comment page, the Evening Standard. Gina Ford, Gok Wan, Al Gore (sort of) and, erm, the Tower of London. Click here to read.
Source: The Evening Standard
Books of the Year 2009 26 November 2009 - round-up of the best history books of 2009. Click here to read.
Source: The Times
Comment 31 October 2009 - what Hogarth’s masterpiece ‘Gin Lane’ can teach David Cameron and George Osborne. Click here to read.
Source: The Spectator
Book review 28 October 2009 - review of Robert Ferguson’s ‘The Hammer and the Cross: A New History of the Vikings’. Click here to read.
Source: The Times
Book review 7 October 2009 - review of Stieg Larsson’s final ‘Millennium’ trilogy novel, ‘The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets’ Nest’. Click here to read.
Source: The Spectator
Comment 28 August 2009 - lead comment, the Evening Standard. Web trends, Climate Change camp and the historical legacy of Ted Kennedy. Click here to read.
Source: The Evening Standard
Comment 21 August 2009 - lead comment, the Evening Standard. A levels and university, cheating in sport, the perils of inner city life, and erm, the X Factor. Sorry. Click here to read.
Source: The Evening Standard
Book review 12 August 2009 - review of ‘God’s Philosophers: How The Medieval World Laid The Foundations For Modern Science’, by James Hannam. Click here to read.
Source: The Spectator
Review 11 July 2009 - lead non-fiction piece from The Times. A discussion of the Robin Hood myth through the ages - why Robin is reshaped by each generation and who he is today. With reference to two new Robin Hood stories - ‘Hodd’ by Adam Thorpe and ‘Outlaw’ by Angus Donald. Click here to read.
Source: The Times
Comment 6 July 2009 - Lead comment page in the Evening Standard, holding forth on the topics of Facebook, spooks, historical record, rugby, marriage and music. All the important stuff, basically. Click here to read.
Source: The Evening Standard
Book review 4 June 2009 - A review of ‘What Price Liberty’, a new book by Ben Wilson. Click here to read.
Source: The Spectator
Comment 22 May 2009 - A piece on the BBC Today website outlining the events of the Peasants’ Revolt and why politicians today would do well to heed them. Click here to read.
Source: BBC
Book review 21 May 2009 - A review of ‘Deadly sins’, Nicholas Coleridge’s new novel about corporate beastliness in the world of PR. Click here to read.
Source: The Spectator
Opinion 14 May 2009 - A jolly rant about why only medievalists are equipped to deal with the apocalyptic events of Spring 2009. Click here to read.
Source: The Spectator
Arts 14 May 2009 - A look at a new set of paintings of the Spanish Armada, which has been commissioned for the Prince’s Chamber in the Palace of Westminster. I met the artist and delved into the history of the once-famous Armada Tapestries. Click here to read.
Source: The Spectator
Book review 23 April 2009 - A review of ‘Divided Houses’, the third volume of Jonathan Sumption’s massive account of the Hundred Years War. Click here to read.
Source: The Spectator
Book review 21 January 2009 - A review of ‘Oppenheimer: American Prometheus’, by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin. Click here to read.
Source: The Telegraph
