Alastair Redman’s Somerled, Lord of the Isles is an enjoyable and wide-ranging account of one of medieval Scotland’s most important, yet still surprisingly overlooked, leaders. Somerled emerges as far more than a fierce warrior. He was also a skilled politician, naval commander and kingdom-builder who brought Norse and Gaelic traditions together across the western Highlands […]
Ashley Sarah Firth’s Trailblazing Medieval Women is a lively and highly readable collection of stories about women who refused to remain in the background of medieval history. Instead of presenting the Middle Ages as a world shaped entirely by kings, knights and churchmen, Firth brings forward the queens, rulers, warriors and writers who influenced politics, […]
A HEMA sword is a tool, not an ornament. It takes impacts, sweat, humid store cupboards and long car journeys, and unlike a wall-hanger it needs to keep working safely week after week. The good news is that looking after it properly takes minutes, not hours — as long as you do it regularly rather […]
History loves to put people into neat little boxes: hero or villain, saint or sinner. Abigail R. Williams shows that Saint Olga of Kyiv refuses to fit into any of them. In Saint Olga of Kyiv: The Viking Queen – Saint or Savage?, Williams tells the story of one of the most remarkable women of […]
