I tell history with an eye to the real men and women who lived through the events of their time. They weren’t all obsessed with power, sex, and money; they weren’t all pursuing this policy or that. They were trying to do what seemed best, or easiest, or safest; to keep their feet when the world was going mad; to keep their friends and families safe and uphold their laws. They made good choices and bad; sometimes they made terrible mistakes, and other times they truly rose to the occasion. No matter how long they’ve been dead, they were once living men and women, and we owe them a fair hearing.

The Day Democracy Died
How the Athenian democracy pushed people power to the limits – and paid a terrible price.

Death Keeps His Court
Regal, cultivated, and murderous. The story of how Richard II lost his throne – the first time.

Plato and the Tyrant
The tragic attempt to turn a spoiled young tyrant into a philosopher-king.