In 2012 amateur historian Phillipa Langley discovered the final resting place of famed fifteenth century monarch King Richard III under a carpark in the centre of Leicester. Most of what contemporary audiences know of Richard, the last of the Plantagenet dynasty, is based on the play written by Shakespeare some 100 years after the king…
Prolific historian Dan Jones has turned his deep knowledge to provide the basis of a fictional account of the start of the hundred years war in Essex Dogs. The book is the first of a planned trilogy about a group of scrappy fighters caught up in the wars between the British and the French, a…
Inspired by events that took place in a powerful African state in the 19th century, The Woman King is the story of a battalion of female warriors. Known as the Agojie, their job was to protect the Kingdom of Dahomey, and its ruler King Ghezo (John Boyega). The narrative focuses primarily on two figures –…
If the recent See How They Run was a movie for theatre nerds, Amsterdam is a movie for history nerds. This hugely ambitious project from writer-director David O. Russell provided a potted but pointed history of the United States between 1917 and 1935. Along the way, he hits some of the more outrageous historical notes…
The 2022 Cunard British Film Festival full programme has been unveiled with a formidable line-up celebrating the talents of Britain’s finest filmmakers and actors including Stephen Frears, Sally Hawkins, Emma Thompson, Bill Nighy and more. Marking its 10th anniversary this year, the festival will deliver a number of exclusive premieres of highly anticipated films in…
Anthony Marra takes on Hollywood during the Second World War and much more in his latest novel Mercury Pictures Presents. The book delivers a broad cast of characters, each given a chance to shine, and visits some of the lesser known stories to come out of the War. The book opens in 1941, Mercury Studios…
The Conference is a fictionalised account of what is unquestionably the most horrific conference in history. On 20 January 1942, high ranking Nazi officials met at a mansion southwest of Berlin to plot the Holocaust, referred to as the “Final Solution to the Jewish question”. It involved 90 minutes discussing how to rid Europe of…
The final film from director Roger Michell (whose drama The Duke is currently screening in cinemas), Elizabeth: A Portrait in Part(s) is a documentary about Queen Elizabeth II, the longest reigning British monarch. The documentary has been released to coincide with her platinum jubilee. While this may not be the definitive portrait of Queen Elizabeth…
The tense Holocaust drama Farewell, Mr Haffmann concerns a Jewish jeweller in France caught up in the maelstrom as the Nazis spread their tentacles. It is May 1941 and Joseph Haffmann (Daniel Auteuil) runs a small jewellery shop. He’s noted for his fine craftsmanship. Haffmann sees the situation in occupied Paris worsening and understands the…
Cesare Aldo is back in the sequel to DV Bishop’s historical crime debut City of Vengeance. Once again, Bishop brings the world of Sixteenth Century Florence vividly to life while delivering a well paced murder mystery While this book deals with a very different crime, Bishop keeps some of the threads hanging from his debut…
