Roger Machado, Perkin Warbeck and heraldic espionage

An examination of the medieval herald's role in international espionage. It is argued that heralds were used as spies, despite their creation oaths stipulating that their job should not encompass this task. The herald Roger Machado's involvement in the diplomacy surrounding the pretender to the English throne, Perkin Warbeck, is scrutinized and is offered as evidence that Machado did act as a spy for Henry VII on the international stage.

The storms of war

The Storms of War, is the first in a trilogy about the de Witt family. The first explores their lives from 1914-1918, as the youngest girl, Celia, sees her perfect world crumble and change. Inspired to write about the wars since Kate visited the trenches in France when she was ten on a school trip. Kate was fascinated by how small they were - and how men could ever live in such places. She really wanted to go into the lives of Germans - the Victorians couldn't get enough of them. Then - almost overnight - they were the enemy and people saw German spies everywhere and the newspapers demanded that all Germans in the country be imprisoned. At the beginning of the book, Rudolf and Verena have four children - and their lives will never be the same again.