18th century… Robin Hood the Angry Letter Writer 9 Jun 2019 By Stephen Basdeo Many people have adopted the name of Robin Hood over the years. The most obvious ones which spring to mind are the men who appear in medieval…
14th Century… The Flemish Revolt: Pierce Egan’s “Quintin Matsys” (1838) 28 Dec 2018 By Stephen Basdeo Pierce Egan the Younger (1814–80) is one of my most favourite Victorian authors. The son of the more famous Regency journalist and writer, Pierce Egan (1772–1849), he…
19th Century… Sedition 23 Nov 201823 Nov 2018 By Stephen Basdeo Since the Victorian era, even though they lack a formal written constitution, the English people have always enjoyed a high degree of freedom of speech and political…
19th Century… Mike Leigh’s “Peterloo” (2018) 18 Nov 2018 Reviewed by Stephen Basdeo As a fan of English radical history (did I mention I once wrote a book about Wat Tyler?), I was really looking forward to Mike Leigh’s…
Counterfactual History… “Lenin Lives!” (2017) by Philip Cunliffe 20 Jul 201820 Jul 2018 Philip Cunliffe, Lenin Lives! (Winchester: Zero Books, 2018) RRP £9.99 Reviewed by Stephen Basdeo In 1890, the artist, designer, and visionary socialist, William Morris, published his novel News from Nowhere.…
1381… The Last Dying Speech and Confession of Jack Straw 23 Sep 201723 Sep 2017 In 1381, one of the most important events in English medieval history occurred: the Peasants’ Revolt. Under the leadership of a former soldier, Wat Tyler (d. 1381), a radical priest,…
