Indeed, throughout much of history and in many cultures, redheads have been viewed with suspicion and fear – and even killed – because of their hair. Kate Williams Read Quote
Eighteenth-century matrons would have never have dreamed of appointing a redhaired wet nurse for their precious offspring – redheads passed on their horrible characters through their milk. Kate Williams Read Quote
Anglo-Saxon kings often used to favour their sister’s son to their own – for at least you could guarantee there was your own blood in your sister’s son! Kate Williams Read Quote
As historians, we spend days in archives, gazing at account books. We train would-be historians in the arts of deciphering letters and documents, early Latin, scribal handwriting, medieval French. Kate Williams Read Quote
It’s the 21st century. It’s untenable to suggest that women had no significance and no interest and that just because they didn’t vote they had no relevance to the course of our history. Kate Williams Read Quote
Usually, historical revelations come from days of legwork, ploughing through piles of letters and papers in archives or even private homes, looking for the telling phrase or letter that someone else has missed. Kate Williams Read Quote
The motivations of kings in British history can generally be reduced to two: the quest for territory and the search for a male heir. No king was secure on his throne until he had a son, and no queen consort was ever really safe without a boy. Kate Williams Read Quote
Throughout the 19th century, Britain bought cheaply from the countries of the empire and compelled subject countries to buy our goods at high prices. Kate Williams Read Quote
Women’s stories have been neglected for so long – unless they were queens. Exploring the history of women is a way of redressing that imbalance. Kate Williams Read Quote