Robert Cecil, the younger but highly prodigious son of William Cecil, chief advisor to Elizabeth I, was one of the most complex but intriguing figures of the late 16th and early 17th century. Bookish, awkward and at times rather cold, he was nonetheless a supremely skilled politician who would play a huge role in the succession from the world of the Tudors to the Stuarts. To discuss Robert Cecil with me, I am pleased to welcome author Richard Woulfe onto the podcast for the first time. Richard’s book, Master Secretary, Robert Cecil, A Life in Fiction, is as the name suggests, a piece of historical fiction, but the discussion today is all about the real man himself, so settle in to discover all about the man who all but placed the crown of England on the head of a Scotsman

I think we’d all love for Anne Boleyn to have been given the chance to get her revenge on King Henry VIII, which is why I was really excited to read The Beheading Game, the delightfully bonkers new piece of historical fiction in which Anne Boleyn wakes up in that famous arrow chest, her head resting at her waist. What follows is a journey in which Anne manages to reattach her head, before going out on a journey of both self discovery and, of course, cold hard revenge. To discuss the story with me, I am pleased to welcome the books author, Rebecca Leeman onto the podcast for the first time. Join Rebecca and I as we discuss how she developed her ideas, the creative choices she made for Anne’s character, what ancient legends inspired the story plus much more!

She is known around the world as the Other Boleyn Girl, but what do we really know about the sister of Anne Boleyn? Characterised as either a dull, less educated version of Anne or a whore who slept her way through much of the French court, in reality what we do know of Mary’s story paints an entirely different woman. To discuss her with me, I am pleased to welcome back historian Sylvia Barbara Soberton onto the podcast for a discussion on her upcoming book, Mary Boleyn, the Queens Slandered Sister.