From Forrester to Follett: the lure of epic adventure

When I was a kid, I got half an hour of reading time before I went to sleep. I soon finished all my Classics Illustrated epic adventure comics, so my dad gave me one of his books – CS Forrester’s The Gun. I got hooked on historical adventure fiction. Many of the classic stories I was […]

What was the real story behind the French princess in Braveheart?

And how did she come to rule England? Gorgeous. Defiant. Looks great in a skirt. But enough about Mel Gibson. Let’s talk about Sophie Marceau’s character, the French princess, Isabella. In the film she has an affair with Mel and has his child, breaking the royal English line. It is a tale of adventure, romance and terrible butchery. English and Scottish history is mutilated […]

The inspiration behind Stands with a Fist in Dances with Wolves

One of the greatest and saddest love stories of the Wild West She was christened Cynthia Ann Parker, but she would have told you her name was Naduah, which translates as Keeps Warm With Us. Author and screenwriter Michael Blake said that his character Stands with a Fist was based upon Cynthia. She was born in 1824 in Illinois to Silas and Lucy […]