Travel and History

When I was researching for my novel Shadow of the Dome I became fascinated by the idea of the Silk Road, the ancient network of trade routes that once connected Europe with China. Although my novel mostly takes place at sea, it is based around the travels of Marco Polo, who travelled the Silk Road… Read more: Journey To The Ancient Silk Road: A Caucasus Adventure

It is hard to imagine now, but chocolate was once an exotic luxury, available only to the wealthy. It was taken as a drink, and in 17th century London chocolate houses opened to serve the rich and powerful. But these fashionable new establishments were often rowdy and scandalous places… Chocolate Comes To London Chocolate was… Read more: The London Chocolate Houses Of The 17th And 18th Centuries

I visited Korčula, in Croatia, when I was researching my novel Shadow of the Dome. I was particularly keen to explore the Marco Polo House – you might be surprised to know that this claims to be the birthplace of the great explorer! Most historians are of the opinion that that Marco Polo (1254-1324) was… Read more: Marco Polo And Korčula

When I was writing my novel Shadow of the Dome I discovered that piracy was a big problem for seafarers in the 13th century. And when I went on a cruise of southeast Asia as part of my research I realised that it can still be a problem today! The Malacca Strait, which runs between… Read more: Pirates Of The Malacca Strait

Bahrain might be a modern oil state, but it is also home to one of the oldest civilisations in the world. The Dilmun kingdom flourished here more than 4,000 years ago, and there are several archaeological sites around the island. Here you can see the places where these ancient people lived, worshipped and were buried.… Read more: The Dilmun Civilisation: Archaeological Sites Of Bahrain