With the bravura storytelling and pungent authenticity of detail she brought to her acclaimed Lymond Chronicles, Dorothy Dunnett, grande dame of the historical novel, presents The House of Niccolò series. The time is the 15th century, when intrepid merchants became the new knighthood of Europe. Among them, none is bolder or more cunning than Nicholas vander Poele of Bruges, the good-natured dyer s apprentice who schemes and swashbuckles his way to the helm of a mercantile empire. The year is 1471. Within the circus of statecraft, where the lions of Burgundy, Cyprus, England, and Venice stalk and snarl, Nicholas wields a valued whip. Having wrested his little son Jordan from his estranged wife, Gelis, he embarks on the greatest business scheme of his life beginning with a journey to Iceland. But while Nicholas confronts merchant knights, polar bears, and the frozen volcanic wastelands of the North, a greater challenge awaits: the vengeful Gelis, whose secrets threaten to topple a
Multi-award winning investigative journalist Neil Mackay has been gracing the pages of The Herald for years. With multiple columns, investigations and Big Reads , Herald readers are accustomed to his strong insight and analysis on the stories that are making the headlines. We caught his views on everything politics and coronavirus in today s Q&A. Want to catch his columns and investigations? Make sure you have your Herald digital subscription to never miss a piece.
What has been the highlight of your career? There’s been so many highlights, which probably shows my age. Chief among the highlights, though, have been editing the Sunday Herald, my investigative work into both the Dirty War in Northern Ireland and the misuse of intelligence to build the case for war against Iraq; investigations into the far-right and political extremism; writing books and making films and radio programmes; campaigning for human rights and equality - just engaging with the wider public ab
The Crown s Emerald Fennell on playing the Duchess of Cornwall: ‘I felt sympathy for Camilla’
In two weeks The Crown will be back, and with Diana’s debut, Emerald Fennell’s role as Charles s first love will be ever more central
16 March 2021 • 11:19am
Emerald shot exclusively for Stella magazine. She wears: Silk crêpe-de-chine dress, £630, Zimmermann; leather sandals, £440, Maria Luca; organic pearl and gold earrings, £155, Dinosaur Designs
Credit: Brian Daly; styling Tona Stell
It’s the last warm day of autumn, and Emerald Fennell is sitting on a bench in a west London park, eating a picnic of strawberries and shortbread. It seems an aptly British setting for us to talk about the highly anticipated fourth instalment of The Crown, which returns later this month.
Died: February 2, 2021. THE journalist Auberon Waugh’s first impression of publisher Naim Attallah, who has died aged 89, was that of “a bubbling pixie, full of strange and wild enthusiasms.” Waugh added: “Articulate and outgoing, he seldom wastes a sentence, although he speaks a lot. His favourite word is ‘wonderful’. On the few occasions when things are not wonderful, he scowls and goes into an angry speech until the matter is cleared up, and then he finds something new which is wonderful to laugh about.” Waugh met Attallah through his daughter, Sophie, who, by her own account, was a member of the fabled “Naim’s harem”. Others included Nigella Lawson, Emma Soames, Anna Pasternak and Rebecca Fraser. The “beloved”, as they were invariably addressed, were well-connected, strikingly beautiful and smart young women for whom partying was a way of life.
The most memorable teachers in books Features The most memorable teachers in books
Some fictional teachers are immortalised so well in books we remember them better than our own. Here are the best of the bunch.
Arwa Haider 26 February 2021
There is no doubting the power of a teacher; we never forget our best (or worst) or their capacity to change our lives. Over the past year, as many of us have attempted home-schooling , their job and the difficulties they face have never been more front of mind (I write this having been graded “rubbishest teacher in the universe” by my own six-year-old).