“being married off to a russian grand duke was far from glamorous – it could be absolutely terrifying”

Danny Bird What was the genesis of Legenda? Was there a moment when you knew you had to write this book? Janina Ramirez From the start of my academic career, I learned from [Palestinian-American liter

Reins in hands, three young sisters ride the coils of an enormous blue snake. Waving a rattle and smiling happily, the fourth, a baby, is held around her plump middle by its tail. Passers-by dive out

Over a long career, John Hardman has specialised to great effect in teasing out, from speeches, decrees, minutes, memoranda, letters, diaries and unsent drafts, the varied moods of French political de

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Holbein Elizabeth Goldring (Paul Mellon Centre, £40) ACCORDING ...

In March 1457, a short, slight widow left Pembroke Castle to embark on a 100-mile journey across territories stalked by civil war and pestilence. Her husband had died only four months earlier, carried