Having given over 50 talks in the last year or so, I now have packing for them down to a fine art. The perfect history book talk pack comprises the following for me: One small hard-sided suitcase with wheels – cabin baggage size. Mine is this one – yes, expensive but very hard-wearing, has an interior net on […]
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Happy Anniversary, Great Fire of Westminster!
Yes, it’s 179 years since the old Houses of Parliament burned down. Last year there was the very successful real-time tweet of the events of 16 October 1834 (you can still see the story as it unfolded on Twitter), and this year there are more treats to mark the anniversary. Firstly, there’s a brand new […]
One Year On…And the Search Continues
Today is the first anniversary of publication of the book. A lot’s happened. Many lovely people have got in touch to say how much they enjoyed it. New accounts and relics of the fire have come to light. The reviewers liked it. It was book of the week/year in some papers. And – ahem – it was nominated […]
Wyatt’s the Difference?
Lost buildings are always fascinating, and the old Palace of Westminster is no exception. When I come across a building which still stands relating to it, I find it hard to resist picturing it in my mind’s eye. There are parts of the precincts of Windsor Castle which must be very similar to the old Houses […]
My Hot Date with Mr Turner
I’m currently on a lecture tour for the Royal Oak Foundation (Americans in Alliance with the National Trust), and a few days ago I had the opportunity to visit one of the great Turner oils of the 1834 fire – which now hangs in the Philadelphia Museum of Art. During the writing of The Day […]
William Cobbett on the Old Houses of Parliament
It’s William Cobbett’s 250th birthday today. In honour of the occasion here are the great radical’s views on sitting in the very uncomfortable House of Commons chamber in the years leading up to the calamitous fire of 1834: Why are we squeezed into so small a space that it is absolutely impossible that there should […]