A Viking King of England

Exactly 1000 years ago this month, England was conquered by a Viking army. The English king, Ethelred II, fled, with his place taken by Sweyn Forkbeard, the raider's commander. It was to be the fist of three conquests of England in the eleventh century.

Read more about it in my guest post over at Royal Central: http://www.royalcentral.co.uk/blogs/a-viking-king-of-england-19996#.UoyjN_nxprI

The Boleyn Women - A Nice Review

Carolyn Harris, a well-known royal historian over in Canada has just published a lovely review of The Boleyn Women. You can read it here: http://www.royalhistorian.com/the-boleyn-women-by-elizabeth-norton-review/

When researching The Boleyn Women, I wanted to focus particularly on the less well known members of the family, in order to tell their stories and show the parts that they played in the rise of the family to power.

Talking History on Newstalk Radio

I've just been interviewed on Newstalk Radio's Talking History programme. I discussed my book, The Anne Boleyn Papers, which is a collection of the sources relating to Anne's life. It was interesting to go through what material survives, as well as reading some of the extracts from Henry VIII's letters to Anne. We also discussed the reasons behind Anne's fall and whether there was any truth in the accusations against her.

You can listen to the programme at http://www.newstalk.ie/player/listen_back/launch

West Midlands History

I spent today at the West Midlands History conference at Keele University. My academic work at King's College, London is focussed on the Blount family, who were a West Midlands gentry family, so it's always great to see what other researchers are working on. The papers spanned 1500 years of history and covered a diverse range of topics, from the Anglo-Saxon governance of Hereford to politics in the twentieth century.

I was particularly interested in a paper on local government in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries which looked at the commissions for sewers - where groups of local men were appointed to take charge of flood defences.

Another nice Elfrida review

It's obviously a day for lovely reviews - this time it's Elfrida's turn I have been really pleased with the feedback from this book. Writing about a woman who lived 1000 years ago seemed to be a risk. However, I always thought that the story of her life deserved to be told, particularly given the myths that had built up around bad Queen Elfrida.

http://impressionsinink.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/review-elfrida-first-crowned-queen-of.html

The Good Book Guide November 2013

Three of my books were featured in the biography section of November's issue of The Good Book Guide:

The Anne Boleyn Papers 'A very vivid picture of the infamous 'Mistress Bullen''.

The Boleyn Women 'Norton shows how the women connected with Anne Boleyn were important in the major events int he 16th century'.

Bessie Blount (paperback) 'This is a lucid, readable. intelligent account of the life of a woman who could have been queen' (the hardback was previously editor's choice back in April 2012).

It's always nice to get good feedback!

Talking History (Newstalk 106-108 fm)

Just a quick post to let you know that I will be featured on the Talking History show on Ireland's Newstalk radion (106-108 fm) on Sunday 17 November at 8pm. I will be discussing my book, The Anne Boleyn Papers, which is a collection of the main sources relating to Anne. I will be looking at the enduring popularity of Henry VIII's second wife, as well as the different portrayals of her over the century. Also, I will be outlining the extent of the surviving sources and how these can colour our interpretations of the Tudor queen.

Tune in, it should be interesting! http://www.newstalk.ie/talkinghistory