History, Books, Wine and ME

It’s ALWAYS Happy Hour somewhere, right? So, you can listen to this fabulous podcast morning, noon, or night (drink optional). Today I’m DELIGHTED to be the guest author on the “History, Books and Wine”. Listen wherever you download your favorite podcasts as chat with fellow authors Eliza Knight and Lori Ann Bailey covering some of…

Read More

London’s Great Fire—A Selection of Fearsome Facts

The Great Fire of London was an event of HISTORIC proportions. While researching the 17th century timeline in AND BY FIRE, I read a collection of exceptional books on the Fire. In fact, let me drop a footnote in here with a couple of recommendations for those of you who would enjoy a deep dive…

Read More

Sir Christopher Wren’s Stamp on a NEW London

In 1666 when London caught fire, Christopher Wren wasn’t the city’s most famous architect—not by a long shot. Just thirty-three years old, Wren was considered an amateur in the field, albeit a passionate one. His actual job was as a Professor of Astronomy at Oxford (where he’d also been commissioned to design and build a…

Read More

Helping London Rise Again . . . Allegorically

While London’s Monument to the Great Fire is, as a whole, splendid, its most significant artistic element is Caius Gabriel Cibber’s stunning bas-relief stone panel on its West face. So lets have a closer look (see, told you in my Monument Post that I’d get back to it). Cibber’s carving is allegorical, depicting post-Great-Fire London…

Read More