Julia Herdman's Blog: Julia Herdman Books, page 13
May 26, 2017
Voltaire in Love
Voltaire, the great rationalist, was always falling in love and had numerous love affairs. His love life began with great passion when he was just seventeen years old. ‘Voltaire in Love‘ is perhaps the best known work about his love life. It is a popular history of the sixteen-year relationship between Voltaire and the Émilie, […]
Liberté – but not for girls
We’re now into the second series of the BBC’s block buster drama Versailles and it’s hot stuff. The court which is so glamours from the outside is imploding with the intrigue and corruption that will see its end a century later in the Revolution where Liberté, Egalité, et Fraternité will replace the divine right of […]
May 25, 2017
The Apothecary Poet
Like my hero Sinclair, the Romantic poet John Keats (1795-1821) studied to become doctor but unlike Sinclair’s his heart was not really in it. Keats’s letters to Fanny Brawne are among the most famous love letters ever written. As next-door neighbours, they exchanged numerous short notes, and occasionally more passionate letters. Keats trained as an […]
May 24, 2017
The Landscaped Park
The landscaped park was a British style which would influence gardens throughout Europe from the 18th century onwards. The style at a glance: Informal layout designed as a classical Arcadia Lakes created to reflect the landscape as well as for recreation Cascades add drama and animation to the scene Temples, grottoes and follies doubled up […]
May 23, 2017
Toxic Beauty
White skin was a must for the most fashionable boys and girls about town in the 18th century. What we would call a healthy sun kissed complexion was a sure sign of being a peasant labouring on the land and not the sign of a lady or gentleman of leisure and so was to be […]
May 22, 2017
The Chelsea Flower Show Old and New
The annual RHS Chelsea Flower Show opened today – 22nd May 2017 with a visit from HM Queen Elizabeth and in the evening with its traditional charity preview. The RHS patron, HM the Queen, is the guest of honour at each show. The show is so popular tickets are restricted to four per person and […]
May 20, 2017
Women’s Boxing – A Georgian Novelty Act
In her historical novel set in Bristol, Bath and London, Anna Freeman follows the story of a young prostitute plucked from the brothel and trained as a female boxer. The story is based on real women who boxed in Georgian England. Anna got the idea of writing a book about women boxers from a children’s […]
May 19, 2017
Nursing by Numbers
Throughout her life Florence Nightingale’s gift for mathematics was often to be a source of frustration for her because of the ignorance of those whom she sought to influence. In 1891 she wrote that: “Though the great majority of cabinet ministers, of the army, of the executive, of both Houses of Parliament, have received a […]
May 18, 2017
A Trip to the Theatre
The 18th century saw an explosion of opera across Europe. Opera houses were built in all the major European cities and new operas were commissioned for each season. The King’s Theatre in London became the home of opera in the 18th and 19th centuries where operas were the main offering in the evening’s entertainment, usually […]
May 17, 2017
Most Loved Patterns
The colonisation of the Indian sub-continent from the mid sixteenth century onward had some unexpected results; one was the impact of Indian patterns and designs on European fashion. The demand for printed Indian calico grew so rapidly that the East India Company was unable to meet the European demand for it and the obvious solution […]
