On 1 May 1639 a ‘Wild Goose’ in Brussels, Flanders, passed away somewhat unexpectedly and was interred in the Church (now Cathedral) of St Michael and St Gudula in the city. His resting place and that of his noble wife, Marie Hannedouche, is now no longer marked, owing to reconstructions of the church over the … Read more
When the First World War started, John Redmond, leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party, came to a decision aimed at delivering Home Rule at the war’s end. After the foreign secretary, Edward Grey, made his famous speech in the Commons about ‘the lamps going out all over Europe’, Redmond intervened in the debate: ‘I say … Read more
I gaze as I write at two photographs, presented to me by their subjects’ grandchildren: one of Seán O’Casey’s sister Isabella (the ‘Ella’ of his semi-fictionalised autobiographies), and the other of her husband, Nicholas Beaver—or, as O’Casey called him, Benson. The photographs appear to have been taken in the mid-1890s. Her face, framed above her … Read more
Inside less than three weeks 160 prisoners were tried by field general court martial. The trials took place in secret and none of the prisoners were represented by lawyers. Most lasted less than twenty minutes. This book provides a powerful and compelling account of how the rule of law disintegrated in a time of crisis. … Read more
Garden history was long the province of the amateur. In recent decades it has become more the activity of the professional academic, with chairs and lectureships in a number of universities in both the US and the UK. The results of research are published in two principal scholarly journals, Garden History and Studies in the … Read more