News and features related to historical topics I've written about in my novels.
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From The Atlantic, February 23, 2023 At the small elementary school in Jouy-sous-les-Côtes, in northeastern France, Gisèle Marc knew the rumor about her: that her parents were not her real parents, and her real mother must have been a whore. It was the late 1940s, just after the war, a …
Two sarcophaguses unearthed in reconstruction work after 2019 fire identified as elite canon of cathedral and young cavalier Two lead sarcophaguses discovered buried under the nave at Notre Dame Cathedral in what was described as an “extraordinary and emotional” find have begun giving up their secrets, French scientists announced on …
Authors’ Note: While expressing delight with the novel, many readers of The Avignon Affair believed the fictional premise—of overthrowing a modern-day government in favor of a monarchy—could never happen. And yet again, as with so many other Fact Meets Fiction exemplars, life imitates art. Twenty-five people have been arrested in …
Chilling details have emerged about the daily life of Heinrich Himmler, the Nazi SS chief who sent millions of Jews to their deaths in the Holocaust. The German tabloid Bild is serialising excerpts from Himmler’s wartime diaries, recently discovered in Russia.One day, Himmler wrote, he had a massage before ordering …
OUT OF THE MANY TROPES in TV and literature, espionage is one that spurs drama and intrigue for viewers and readers alike. A budding protagonist wants to convey a secret message in a letter or text, but must scramble the message so discreetly to avert the eager antagonist’s gaze. Will …
The Banco Ambrosiano was closely associated with the Vatican, which was its biggest shareholder. Another owner was the Mafia, which probably used the bank to launder some of its ill-gotten gains. The chairman of the bank was Roberto Calvi, a man with an interesting past. He joined the bank in …
