Earlier this year I talked with writer and reviewer Rachel Stirling about the writing and reading of poetry. The conversation appeared on Rachel's blog in June, so I'm reposting here now on mine. RACHEL: When did you know that you wanted to write? MATHEW: Quite early on I think. I can’t really remember a time... Continue Reading →
The LRB, Twitter and Craig Raine’s ‘Gatwick’
June 3rd was a strange day on Twitter. For most of it, a living poet was trending. Unfortunately for Craig Raine, the poet in question, he was trending because a long poem of his entitled ‘Gatwick’ had appeared in the LRB and Twitter didn’t like it. Most comments ranged from amused contempt to, well, just... Continue Reading →
Canada AM: the Prince Charles letters
Those who follow me on Twitter may already know that I was TV twice last week. The first appearance, to discuss Prince Harry's career, was on Sky News. Unfortunately - or perhaps fortunately, depending on your point of view - I can't link to that. But I subsequently appeared on CTV's breakfast show Canada AM... Continue Reading →
Heart of darkness: from the time-honoured barbarity of the Tudors in Ireland to Islamic State
The leader of a small military force – perhaps 500 strong – is determined to subdue a province, and to do so quickly. Terror is his explicit policy. Every inroad he makes into enemy territory is followed by indiscriminate slaughter and destruction. Every man, woman and child is killed. Houses, churches, crops – everything is... Continue Reading →
The Massacre At Paris: Kit Marlowe, the Rose Playhouse and me
As some friends may know, I spent last week acting in the final six performances of The Dolphin’s Back production of Christopher Marlowe’s The Massacre at Paris at the Rose Playhouse on London’s South Bank. The offer to do so came out of the blue, so much so that - as much out of surprise... Continue Reading →
God’s Traitors: Terror and Faith in Elizabethan England by Jessie Childs
The daily lives of catholics in England under Elizabeth I and James I have long been neglected by historians. True, much as been written about the various attempts against Elizabeth during her reign – most obviously the Babington ‘complotment’ which resulted in the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots – and, of course, the Gunpowder... Continue Reading →
The borders of historical fiction and non-fiction: a conversation with Nancy Bilyeau
Last year I reviewed Nancy Bilyeau's excellent début Tudor thriller, The Crown which is set during the dissolution of the monasteries. Its sequel, The Chalice, is being published in the UK by Orion on February 28; and in North America by Simon & Schuster on March 5. Nancy has kindly agreed to take part in... Continue Reading →
Londonist Out Loud podcast
My Londonist Out Loud podcast with N Quentin Woolf, recorded in the lovely gardens at Hampton Court on Wednesday, is now available for download – either from the Londonist website or from iTunes. We chatted about various London-related matters, including the commercialisation of the Houses of Parliament and the ongoing privatisation of public spaces, among... Continue Reading →
Tracy Borman reviews The Favourite in BBC History magazine
The September issue of BBC History magazine carries a really nice review of the paperback edition of The Favourite. I'm particularly pleased with this, since it's by Tracy Borman, whose Elizabeth's Women: The Hidden Story of the Virgin Queen is wonderful. Tracy writes: The Favourite explores the complex, "narcotic" relationship between Elizabeth and Ralegh, and... Continue Reading →
North, a film by Temujin Doran
Film-maker Temujin Doran contacted me in the summer of 2010 with the intention of making a film based on The Balloonist’s Tale in my book Impossible Journeys, which recounted the failed 1897 attempt by Salomon August Andrée to reach the North Pole by hot air balloon. In the end, Doran decided to make a different... Continue Reading →
My Facebook author page
Just a brief post to note that I've just set up a Facebook author page, which will hopefully complement my blog and Twitter feed – as well as overlap in places! Do come and say hello: it's great to get to know people and keep in touch. Any suggestions are always welcome.
Ralegh’s reputation in the 20th century
This article first appeared in the July issue of History Today. It was part of the magazine's regular 'From the Archives' feature, and is a response to an excellent 1998 essay by Robert Lawson-Peebles titled 'The Many Faces of Sir Walter Ralegh', which traced Ralegh's reputation through history. Lawson-Peebles essay can be viewed in History... Continue Reading →
Richard Topcliffe: the Queen’s torturer
There is no known portrait of Richard Topcliffe, the man most associated with the torture and persecution of Catholics in Elizabethan England. In some respects that is as it should be: those who break human bodies on behalf of the state are usually anonymous, ordinary figures, extraordinary only in the apparent disjunction between their personal... Continue Reading →
Out now in paperback: The Favourite
The Favourite, my book about the relationship between Elizabeth I and Sir Walter Ralegh, is now out in paperback through Constable. The new edition includes a lengthy afterword taking the story through to the end of Ralegh's life in 1618. 'The Favourite is wonderful. Elegant and intriguing – a seductive portrait of a fascinating relationship. I couldn’t... Continue Reading →
Interview: On the Tudor Trail
Natalie Grueninger (follow her on Twitter), who runs the excellent On The Tudor Trail website, has just posted her interview with me about The Favourite, which will be out in paperback on 21 June. I really enjoyed answering Natalie's questions and I hope that comes across in my responses. The interview can be read here.
The death of Anne Boleyn: a correspondent writes to Elizabeth I
It is impossible to know what Elizabeth I thought or felt about the fact that her father, Henry VIII, had executed her mother, Anne Boleyn, on charges of adultery with, among others, Elizabeth’s uncle and Anne’s brother. It is entirely possible, given that she was not yet three when her mother died, that she had... Continue Reading →
Re-imagining Elizabethan London
Hollar's "Exact Surveigh" of 1667 I have lived in London most of my life, and one of the pleasures for me in researching and writing The Favourite, an exploration of the relationship between Elizabeth I and Walter Ralegh, is that so much of their story is also a London story. Or, more accurately, London is... Continue Reading →
Sir Walter Ralegh and the Babington plot
I was not, truth be told, expecting to write much, if at all, about the world of espionage when I first set out to research The Favourite, my recent book about the relationship between Elizabeth I and Ralegh. After all, Ralegh’s protestant credentials in the fight against imperial Spain would appear, at first sight, unimpeachable.... Continue Reading →
The Babington plot: the capture and execution of the conspirators
On Tuesday 20th September 1586, seven Catholic men were bound to hurdles in the Tower of London – one of them, a priest named John Ballard, on a single sled, the others two-a-piece – and then dragged westward on their final slow journey through the city’s autumnal streets to a hastily erected scaffold in the... Continue Reading →
What’s in a name? Walter Ralegh vs Walter Raleigh
One of the questions I get asked most about Sir Walter Ralegh, somewhat to my surprise, is the correct spelling of his name. The reason is that 'Raleigh', the spelling in widest circulation – and not only on the internet – is rarely used by anyone who has ever written about him in any depth.... Continue Reading →
Mathew Lyons 