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Chinese Box is a story of what happened when the British left Hong Kong in 1997. Technically, it’s not a historical film, since it was released that year. But it is centered around an historic event, so I decided to include it. The film is definitely dated. It’s interesting to…
It’s a creative idea — writing a five part autobiography of the last Tsarina of Russia. The first book, The Funeral Bride, details the early life of the Empress Alexandra, who ultimately was murdered with her husband and five children. The book moves along at a nice pace, and provides…
After reviewing the book The Only Woman in the Room, I stumbled across a new documentary about the 1940s star Hedy Lamarr, which is being released this month. I debated sending a link for this only to subscribers, but decided to post it on the blog, since a lot of…
I decided to write a bit of an essay, primarily to thank Sarah Johnson for allowing me to post on her blog, Readingthepast.com. As I’ve already noted, readingthepast.com is a great resource for finding new historical fiction, and I hope to become as resourceful in the hope you’ll enjoy my…
The Only Woman in the Room, by Marie Benedict ,is a new book about the 1940s movie star Hedy Lamarr, her background in Europe, and her scientific skill that led her to develop some of the technology currently used in cell phones. Sound unusual? It was, and Lamarr was not…
This is a readable, educational book about the history Jews have faced in the United States, and, to a more limited extent, in Israel. It is a story of oppression and flight and families and how they react to stress in their lives. It revolves around a Jewish family that…
Zelary isn’t really about World War II. It’s set in a tiny town in Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia. The movie, in Czech with subtitles, is the story of a woman in the resistance who is forced to abandon her urban home and friends and move to Zelary undercover. The woman, Eliska is…
Bloody Mary, by Phil Carradice, is the story of Mary the first’s brief reign as Queen of England, from 1553 to 1558. While very many people have chronicled her half-sister Elizabeth’s reign, not so many have attempted to decipher how Mary attempted to reinstitute Catholicism in England after her father,…
Alias Grace, released late last year on Netflix, is the story of a woman’s plight at the hands of men. It’s a story that would be familiar to a lot of women but not so many men. I found it a little remarkable that so many male reviewers found it…
First off, it’s a long book, so be prepared for that. The Butcher’s Daughter, by Victoria Glendinning, is unusual in that it illustrates the dissolution of the monasteries and abbeys in Henry VIII’s reign from the perspective of a nun inside an abbey, and all the trauma that brought. Rather…