Latest Posts
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Mitford Fatigue: When Aristocratic Dysfunction Isn’t Enough.
A review of “The Six” & “Outrageous”. Being a consummate buyer of books, even when there’s no time in sight to read, I had been holding onto the Six, by Laura Thompson for some time. As a break from my professional reading on Scottish intellectual history, I wanted to love this book — to page…
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Wolf Hall-Unraveling Thomas Cromwell: Hero or Villain?
For anyone who has read Hillary Mantel’s Wolf Hall trilogy, I’m curious how much of your life you had to invest because I know it took me months!! Small print, giant book, tons of tedious details. None of the aforementioned description is meant negatively as it was also one of the greatest series I have…
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A Day Trip from Edinburgh: History and Beauty in Stirling
In June, I had the privilege of travelling to Stirling for a conference held at the University. The day I arrived, I had the entire day to myself and decided to see as much as I could between Edinburgh and Stirling — and it was incredible. I took the new direct flight from Philadelphia to…
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Crown Corner: The Windsors and the Romanovs: A Story of Guilt
The Crown, the Romanovs, and Royal Guilt I know, I know, I know… after months of being haphazard with some posting, I’m suddenly releasing Russian history post after Russian history post. I know what you’re thinking — this is a British blog, and yet I’ve reviewed a book on the Tsar, War and Peace, and now…
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War and Peace: Stunning Adaptation of a Literary Classic
Whilst a (sometimes) voracious reader who has tackled some doorstop-sized books in my lifetime, I had always been intimidated by War and Peace. I’ve always loved Anna Karenina, despite its tragic ending — and Keira Knightley’s performance only endeared it to me more. Recently, while working, Spotify slipped in an original composition from the 2016 BBC series War…
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PBS’s Marie Antoinette: A Must-Watch for History Lovers
Did Every Girl Have a Marie Antoinette Phase… or Was It Just Me? Is there any girl who went into history who didn’t have a Marie Antoinette period? I know I did. I was in undergrad when the movie came out, and I went full deep-dive with Antonia Fraser’s Marie Antoinette. There’s something so frustratingabout her—yet so easy to…
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Book Nook- The Last Tsar: The Abdication of Nicholas II and the Fall of the Romanovs
I know, I know. The Romanovs? Not British! True, but anyone who knows me or has taken a class I’ve taught knows I love a good couple days to talk all things Romanov and Russian Revolution. I’ve read and watched quite a bit over the years including the glamourising epic Nicholas and Alexandra. However after…
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Edinburgh- Home Sweet Home
Part 2- Edinburgh 15-19 January For those who have been following along, Edinburgh was our destination, but we arrived via a 48 hour stay in London to help us acclimate with our little one and well as avoid a connector issue we had in the past. To go to Edinburgh we booked seats on the…
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London to Edinburgh and Back! Follow Along on my PhD Journey!
Part 1- London Stop 1! Recently, I had the privilege to go back to the UK just to work in the libraries and archives for material for my PhD in Edinburgh and wow is my head still spinning! It was incredibly important to me that I obviously maximized my work time, but also got to…
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The Crown Corner- The Controversial Portrayal of Princess Cecile’s Legacy
In a particularly riveting episode of The Crown in season 2, Paterfamilias, we get a very granular look at Prince Philip that’s really eye-opening. The episode is centred on Prince Charles, the sensitive son that manly man Philip can’t seem to connect with, being sent to Philip’s beloved Gordunstun school in Scotland. Charles, the ever sensitive…
A Courtly Affair: A Blog of Royal Intrigue and Modern British History 