Holly Tucker's Blog, page 99
March 15, 2011
The Red Book of Kildare
By Karen Harper The Red Book of Kildare is an actual historical relic used to propel the plot of my novel, The Irish Princess. This rousing story is built around Gera Fitzgerald, "the uncrowned princess of Ireland," who is hellbent on revenge against the Tudors for her family's persecution. During their 1535 revolt against King [...]
March 9, 2011
The Twisted History of Blood Transfusion
By Holly Tucker For nearly three years, Wonders & Marvels has been featuring some great historical tidbits by authors of new books in history (nonfiction) and historical fiction. As editor of the site, I tend to work behind the scenes to bring these fascinating stories to you several times a week…but I'm hoping you guys [...]
March 8, 2011
The Last Full Measure
By Ann Rinaldi It was mid-summer 1863 and both the North and South felt that as far as the Civil War was concerned, things were coming to a climax. The Yankee army was moving north to meet the invasion of the Confederates under General Robert E. Lee. In Vicksburg, Mississippi, people had been living in caves for six [...]
Body of Work
By Rebecca Messbarger Beyond the research I conducted in state and private archives across Bologna, of crucial importance for the development of my understanding of Anna Morandi's anatomical studies was the course in human dissection I took at Washington University's School of Medicine. Among the most poignant experiences I had in the anatomy laboratory was [...]
March 7, 2011
Disease Maps: Epidemics on the Ground
By Tom Koch Something wonderful happened in the 1500′s when we learned to see in a way that permitted knowledge to be accumulated and categorized in a new way. It began with an anatomical atlas and an atlas of the world, the two together presaging a way of knowing that continues today. Within a hundred [...]
March 1, 2011
The Soviet War Dogs of WWII
By Randi Barrow In the former Soviet Union twenty million people were killed during WWII. Hitler's order in dealing with the Russians was, "Scruples of any sort are a crime against the German people." Both the human and animal populations suffered starvation, and death. Is it any wonder the Soviets had such hatred for the [...]
February 28, 2011
Where Do All the Wonders & Marvels Books Go?
By Janice Haithcoat When Holly Tucker, Editor of Wonders & Marvels, asked me to be an associate editor of the site last spring, I had no idea of the wonderful outcomes as a result of my saying "yes." Number one has been the absolute excitement of receiving, on some days, 8-10 newly published books in [...]
February 21, 2011
The Mistress of Nothing
By Kate Pullinger There are few images of British domestic servants from the Victorian period. The great and good were forever having portraits of themselves commissioned, from line drawings to magisterial oil paintings, but representations of servants are few and far between. Of the three main characters in my novel, only Lucie, Lady Duff Gordon, [...]
February 20, 2011
Madame Tussaud
By Michelle Moran My interest in Marie Tussaud began on my very first trip to London. Like thousands of tourists before me, I had decided that I wanted to visit the famous wax museum, Madame Tussauds. At the time, I knew almost nothing about the woman behind the name, but as I passed through the [...]
February 19, 2011
Why a Politician Needs a Wife
By Ruth Downie In my days as a council clerk, I soon learned that a few ill-chosen words in a document could unleash a torrent of heated emails. Pity, then, the scribes of town councils in Roman times. They were answerable not only to their employers but also to the god Jupiter and the spirits [...]
