The Freelance History Writer is pleased to announce a signed contract with a UK publisher and the submission of the manuscript for my first book. Looking for a publishing date of April 2025 for ‘Charles II’s Portuguese Queen: The Legacy of Catherine of Braganza’. Will update when more information is available ..read more

My initial reaction of disbelief to the new ‘revelations’ regarding the Princes in the Tower has not changed, even after viewing the Channel 4 program on US Public TV. In fact, that program was just embarrassing. There is no doubt the documents discovered and viewed are authentic and from the time period in question. Of course, Maximilian provided troops and supplies. Yes, Perkin Warbeck promised the ruler of Saxony he would repay his loan of three hundred thousand florins (worth about $3.4 million dollars in today’s money). Yes, Warbeck signed documents “Richard of England”. These are indisp ..read more

Livermore states in the preface that he was invited to produce a history of Portugal for a series of short histories on various countries. He had already written a longer “History of Portugal” and a more compact “New History of Portugal” so for this version, he decided to concentrate on the evolution of Portuguese society. This volume covers the main important political events with some interpretation of social organization. The early chapters cover the origins of Portugal from pre-Roman times to the accession of Afonso Henriques, the first Portuguese king. This section covers pre-Roman, Roma ..read more

Personal note: This book was on my shelf of my father’s extensive book collection and I remember being intrigued by it as a young child. Perhaps it was just the cover which probably had some Flemish piece of art on it. Or maybe my interest in the Middle Ages began at an early age. Whatever the case, I purchased a copy of it a while ago and recently read it. In doing research in the reigns of the Valois Dukes of Burgundy, this book always pops up as a reference. I had the impression the subject of the book was the Middle Ages in general but upon learning Huizinga wrote about Burgundy and Franc ..read more

The Freelance History Writer has previously reviewed two other biographies of Isabella of Castile:  Here and Here. I’ve had this volume on my shelf for some time and having recently decided to do some research on Isabella, finally read it. Tremlett’s opening page has two quotes about this formidable queen. ‘No woman in history has exceeded her achievement’ from Hugh Thomas, “Rivers of Gold: The Rise of the Spanish Empire” and ‘Probably the most important person in our history’ from Manuel Fernández Á lvarez, “Isabel la Católica”. From the first page of this book, I was hooked. Tremlett g ..read more

Every now and then, it’s possible to find a book that inspires and moves you and this book did that for me. While reading a biography of Princess Alice, mother of HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, the author mentions her aunt, Grand-Duchess Elizabeth as having a profound influence on Alice with her foundation of a convent and nursing and feeding the poor. The author highly recommended Ms. Almedingen’s biography of Elizabeth and I was lucky enough to find a used copy of this book, published in 1964. There are few books published on the Grand-Duchess. This author, of Russian, English and Ge ..read more

This book has been on my shelf for some time and I’ve finally had a chance to read it. My knowledge of William Cecil and his role in Queen Elizabeth I’s reign was moderate but I wanted to know more. He certainly loomed large as private secretary and as Lord Treasurer and it is clear his influence was paramount. Alford had access to all of Burghley’s papers and this book is not really a standard biography. He concentrates on Cecil as a man with glimpses into Burghley’s personal life. There’s a good deal of information on Burghley’s homes of Cecil House on the Strand, Theobalds and Burghley hou ..read more

Everything you know about Anna, Duchess of Cleves, fourth wife of King Henry VIII, is incorrect. Even her name. She was called Anna, not Anne and was a Duchess in her own right. The author has found definitive, primary source, historical evidence that Anna’s birthday is June 28 (or no later than July 1), not September 22, 1515 as previously believed. Even the eventful first meeting between Anna and Henry didn’t go as previously advertised, according to the primary sources. Darsie places Anna in the context of the Holy Roman Empire, German, and Low Countries history which explains why her marr ..read more

  Thomas Penn’s “The Brothers York:  An English Tragedy” is chock full of revelations.  His book on King Henry VII “The Winter King”details Henry’s creative accounting and this book does the same with King Edward IV.  Penn breaks down the inventive financing Edward IV engaged in to raise funds for the government and for himself.  Much of the money garnered by these methods went straight to the king’s chamber rather than the Exchequer.  The raising of bonds from nobles in exchange for good behavior was started during Edward’s reign and Henry VII just continued the ..read more

This biography of the Stuart Restoration King Charles II was recommended by the author of another book I was reading for research.  He said it was the best biography on this king that he had found.  That was enough of an endorsement for me. Mr. Hutton was a reader in History at the University of Bristol at the time of publication (1989).  This was ten years after Lady Antonia Fraser’s magnificent biography of Charles II was published.  Hutton’s book is completely different from Fraser’s although he gives her great praise for her work.  The difference is, Hutton relies ..read more