Society of History Writers Journal
Vol. 01 | April 2025
Editor’s Welcome
I am delighted to bring to you this inaugural edition of the
Journal, the highpoint of the work we do here to showcase the work of history writers across Substack at all stages of their journey.One of the things I love most about traditional history societies is their journals. Call me geeky, but there are few moments as exciting as hearing that thud on the doormat as the hefty tome is delivered, knowing that it contains the latest research updates, book reviews, and networking opportunities.
I hope that this Journal, including its future editions, is received by you with just as much enthusiasm and that you enjoy poring over its every detail.
My vision going forward is that this Journal, like the Society it represents, is a truly collaborative effort, the product of multiple voices and writers rather than my own (if you want more of my words, be sure to check out
, the newsletter I write for medieval history enthusiasts). For this first edition, however, much of the content is my own, members waiting to see the first run of the Journal, undoubtedly, before committing time to adding their words.Contributing to the Journal is, at least for now, a paid member exclusive, forming part of the enhanced level of support and visibility offered to history writers keen to take their work on Substack to the next level. Writers can contribute to almost all sections of the Journal:
Open letters to readers, inviting further discussion in the comments (<200 words)
Opinion pieces on a historical topic (<500 words)
Book reviews (<100 words)
News/updates (on and off Substack including, but not limited to: book publication, magazine publications, search for alpha/beta readers, Substack milestones, Substack posts)
Should you choose to upgrade to contribute to the next edition of the Society of History Writers Journal, you would also unlock a series of upcoming history writer interviews, sharing insights into their areas of study and top tips for aspiring writers.
You can subscribe, or upgrade, at the link below with a 7-day free trial to celebrate this inaugural Journal edition.
I hope you enjoy this first edition and look forward to welcoming many more of you onto the writing team in future editions.
All the best as always,
Holly
Contents
Open letter. Do we need academic credentials to be taken seriously as history writers?
Opinion piece. Women’s history is more important than ever: A love-letter to Women’s History Month
Book Reviews.
Messalina, Honor Cargill-Martin
Femina, Janina Ramirez
News and updates
Recent additions to the Directory
Coming up in April
Last month’s posts at the Society of History Writers
Do we need academic credentials to be taken seriously as history writers?
Holly Brown
Speaking recently at an intimate panel discussion about historical storytelling hosted by
, I was struck that all three panel guests held or are working for PhDs. All three of us women, all three of us writers on Substack, all three of us writing/written/aspiring to write books offline.All three academics.
And yet not necessarily because we love academia.
One panellist shared that she pursued the PhD simply for the credibility it would give her as a female writer in a landscape still very dominated by men. And yet in a casual conversation afterwards, I discovered that some men too feel that need for legitimacy that academic credentials can bring.
Substack is awash with experiences of men and women taking publishing into their own hands and taking diverse routes to seeing their words upon the bookshelf. It’s undoubtedly one of the most encouraging aspects of the platform for the aspiring writer.
Yet the biographies adorning the dust jackets of the most successful books undoubtedly contain those three little letters: PhD.
So my question to you is this:
Do we need academic credentials to be taken seriously as history writers? Is there a place for the non-doctorate-holding writer in the world of history publishing?
Women’s history is more important than ever: A love-letter to Women’s History Month
Holly Brown
With International Women’s Day 2025 just behind us and being right in the thick of Women’s History Month, it seems like everyone is writing about women.
And with good cause.
Women’s history is important because women of the past weren’t silent, whatever the sources might suggest. They were vitally-important agents of action and change at all levels of society. We might not be able to name them all, but we have a duty to tell their stories alongside those of their men.
And we need to make an extra effort to highlight women’s stories in history, because for so long they’ve been excluded. It’s not enough simply to put them into the existing narratives. We need to prioritise women’s history and allow it to radically challenge what we think we know about the past. It’s part of the process of thinking critically about the narratives we’ve received and the sources that survive.
It would be wrong to say that women are absent from history.
Women were everywhere in history.
One of the problems, though, is that so much of women’s history derives from men’s words, as the vast majority of written evidence (until the early modern period at least) was produced by men.
There is more wrong with this than I could possibly cover in a 900-word piece for Substack. Yet one of its enduring legacies is that it has left our picture of medieval womanhood mediated by men: what they thought about women; how they thought women thought; and what they thought important to write down about women.
We’re left with a history populated by women, but described by men.
There are a number of exciting new publications working hard to nudge the tiller on this narrative. You can read my recent review of Hetta Howes’ Poet, Mystic, Widow, Wife HERE, plus
announced just last week the upcoming publication of their book, Monarchia: A New History of the English Royal Dynasties, Through the Queens Who Built Them (which you can read more about HERE).Book Reviews
Messalina, Honor Cargill-Martin
Sex scandals in first-century Rome. Political machinations and large-scale murder. Centuries of warped interpretations and wilful misremembering. And at the heart of all this a young, ambitious woman.
With an engaging style that makes accessible what is, at its heart, a book about early imperial politics, Cargill-Martin shares the the story of Messalina, an empress whose reputation has been sullied and maligned by her contemporaries and those closer to her own time, seeking to rediscover who this remarkable woman really was.
Femina, Janina Ramirez
‘I want to show you that there are so many more ways to approach history now. Far from being ‘unrecoverable’, developments in archaeology, advancements in technology and an openness to new angles have made medieval women ripe for rediscovery.’1
In this stunning journey through the medieval world along the experiences of women rather than the men who so frequently populate the history books, Ramirez provides a unique perspective on a period more often studied through the lens of kings and politicians.
News and updates
at reflected recently on the underlying problems of some of our favourite books. connected with me on Substack this week to share her upcoming novel, Behold the Bird in Flight (due to be released in June 2025). I’ll be interviewing Terri later this year to talk more about her novel, so aligned is its historical setting with my own research interests, but I wanted to share now its description by a popular UK bookstore so that you can help Terri by pre-ordering.When I think back to my early love of historical fiction and the books that inspired it, I have to acknowledge the problematic nature of many of those books.
shared this publishing opportunity with Edinburgh University Press: Scottish Women Making History, bringing to light the lives of remarkable Scottish women and how they shaped history.For fans of Maggie O’Farrell, a coming-of-age story and a royal love triangle marked by danger and longing, based on real events in medieval France and England.
Romantic and stubborn, eleven-year-old Isi plans to marry for love and be mistress of her own castle. But life in 1198 is full of threat and a series of tragic events teaches her growing up is hard.
When Isi falls for Hugh, a French nobleman, he consents to marry her, but only for her dowry. She longs for more. Hoping a jealous man will fall in love, she flirts with a king. The flirtation backfires: King John abducts and marries her. Now trapped in cold, warring England with a malicious husband, Isi must hide her yearning for Hugh and find her own power. If she fails, she won’t live to return to her beloved.
Inspired by real historical figures—Isabelle d’Angoulême, Hugh de Lusignan, and King John of Magna Carta fame—Behold the Bird in Flight is set in a period that valued women only for their dowries and childbearing. Isabelle’s story has been mainly erased by men, but the medieval chronicles suggest a woman who developed her own power and wielded it. And as the woman behind the throne, who’s to say she didn’t influence history?
Books in the series retell history through exploring the lives of Scottish women whose endeavours challenged the status quo and led to change and innovation in a male-dominated world. They were campaigners for equality, fighters for justice, artists, political leaders, authors, explorers, folklorists and more. Drawing on primary sources, each book tells the story of the woman’s life in context, highlighting her contribution to history in Scotland and beyond. The series aims to bring Scottish women out of the shadows, relating their biographies to wider debates to focus on larger-frame connections and conclusions.
You can find out more about how to write for the series HERE.
New additions to the Directory
Ephemeral and Quickly Forgotten by
. Updates on writing and reading goals, random things from the archive that is my notes app and camera roll. . A publication on medieval history, literature, and thought. Written by a medievalist who fell in love with the compellingly weird contradictions of the medieval period.Ireland and the Age of Revolution by
. A cover events, untold stories and individuals who tell the story of Ireland and its diaspora during the 18th and 19th centuries. . Uncovering forgotten stories from history based on the objects left behind. Spanning from early modern genealogical histories to mudlarking finds from the River Thames and metal detector-ing finds from the English/ Scottish border. Occasionally weaving imaginative tales around the treasures left behind in the mud. I make history accessible to the public through my series through series and courses. Past series include 100 Historic Black Women, Beyond Hyphenation: A Deep History of Diasporas and History of the British Empire for Britons.Coming up in April at the Society of History Writers
8th April: A surprise guest post ✨✨
15th April: An interview with
of The Tudor Notebook, a paid member exclusive22nd April: A guest post by
, ‘An Arabic Treatise on Djinns’29th April: A guest post by
, ‘Oh My Heart: To Eat the Single Petal of the Rose’
What you might have missed in March at the Society of History Writers
Propaganda Girls: The Secret War of the Women in the OSS, by
Boudicca: The Importance of Standing Against Tyranny and Injustice, by
Maya Warrior Queens of the Yucatán, by
Mildred and Oscar, a novel excerpt, by Michael Weiner
The Fascinating Evolution of Female Friendships Through History, by
Janina Ramirez. Femina (2022), p.xiii.
Superb, Holly!
Love this! I’m at the airport and this feels like the perfect digital magazine to browse through 🥰 thanks again for the collab and for mentioning the post here again! Appreciate your generosity Holly! 🌸