Historical Fun

Read from the beginning here. Read the previous scene here. BLACK DAWN - CHAPTER ONE - SCENE FIVE VICTOR RADOVIC: BLACK DAWN BASE OF OPERATIONS, LONDON. The factory was silent now. Everything was set. Years in the planning and the endgame was finally here. Viktor's finger glided over a set of unrolled blueprints, tracing the lines with idle precision. “You are ready?” he asked without looking up. Across from him stood a broad-shouldered man in a black tactical jacket and combats, his arms crossed, his face impassive. "We are," he said with confidence, yet a hesitation lingered in his posture. "Go on," Viktor said. “And after?” “The wheel will stop at the designated time. Your only task is to keep Rand there until Westminster burns. He must see what his curse has brought him.” "Then what?" Viktor finally lifted his gaze, steel-grey eyes locking onto him. “Then, you let him go.” “You’re certain? We have him now, seems a waste not to finish it.” Viktor’s ...

Read previous page here   Read from the beginning here   BLACK DAWN - CHAPTER ONE - SCENE FOUR THOMAS RAND: MI6 UNDERCOVER AGENT, LONDON, ENGLAND . Thomas Rand figured they had been driving for about twenty minutes. He had been counting the turns, the stops, listening to the traffic, the bustle of the London he had grown up in, trying to paint a mental picture as to where they were going. And his conclusion? They were going around in circles. Thomas was sure of it. A deliberate attempt to hide their final destination. Not that it mattered. If he survived the night, he'd be surprised. Viktor Radovic wasn’t known for his hospitality. The name carried a weight that Thomas had felt for months. Each whispered mention of Viktor was laced with a fear rarely spoken aloud. Viktor was a man who operated from the shadows, controlling chaos with precision and cold calculation. And now, for reasons Thomas could only begin to fathom, Viktor had taken a personal interest in him. Thomas shift...

Read from the start here Read previous page here. BLACK DAWN: CHAPTER ONE - SCENE THREE VICTOR RADOVIC: BLACK DAWN BASE OF OPERATIONS, LONDON. The abandoned factory was vast, echoing, and heavy with damp. Viktor Radovic stood in the heart of the makeshift command centre, smoking in silence, the embers flaring briefly as he drew in a lungful of smoke. Overhead, a row of flickering industrial lights cast jittery shadows on the stained bulletin board holding a world map riddled with red markers, each one puncturing its surface like a wound. Across from him, the Englishman in his tailored suit paced, restless and anxious. Viktor had little patience for men like him, confident when in control, unravelling when it slipped through their fingers. A man of wealth and privilege, but his hands had never been truly dirty. Viktor knew his kind well. Useful, for a time. Disposable, in the end. “Everything is in place?” the Englishman asked, his voice sharp with aristocratic unease. Viktor’s steel-gr...

Read previous scene here : Michael Fawkes - The cellars beneath Westminster Palace  BLACK DAWN - CHAPTER ONE - SCENE TWO THOMAS RAND: MI6 UNDERCOVER AGENT, LONDON, ENGLAND . Thomas Rand sat in the corner booth, half in light, half in shadow. From here he could see the door, the window, the counter, and the battered kitchen door with its oval glass porthole. Nothing came in or out without passing through his line of sight. The diner itself was a relic, a stage-set left over from another age; chrome edges dulled by time, cracked leather seats that sighed when you sat down, a jukebox in the corner that hadn't played since the Blair government. The coffee in front of him was stone-cold. Untouched. The waitress, a thin woman with the posture of someone who'd fought a thousand small battles and lost most of them, had stopped trying to top it up. Rand's mind was elsewhere, running the last three days like a reel of film. Each moment had wound him tight. Each hour a turn of the scr...

 BLACK DAWN - CHAPTER ONE - SCENE ONE MICHAEL FAWKES - The cellars beneath Westminster Palace  Fawkes. A name that echoed through history. The man who had tried to blow up parliament. And now, here he was, another Fawkes, tasked with the grim tradition that had haunted this place, and his name, for over four hundred years: searching the cellars before the State Opening of Parliament. He gripped his torch tightly, sweeping the beam through the shadows, across the ancient stone, abandoned dust-covered desks, and forgotten boxes of paperwork. Normally, this was a routine job, something done for formality's sake. Nothing ever came of these searches. But tonight, Michael Fawkes couldn’t shake the nagging feeling that something ... was off. His boots echoed through the corridors, the sound swallowed by the darkness and the demons. He tried to convince himself there was nothing wrong. Nothing out of place. Nothing to be worried about. It was just nerves. The weight of history filled ...

Explosive, relentless, and impossible to put down, Black Dawn is a high-stakes thriller that drags you into the heart of a nation under siege. When coordinated attacks devastate London, ex-MI6 operative Thomas Rand is framed for treason and hunted across a city in flames. Behind the chaos lurks The Black Dawn, a shadow network determined to expose the monarchy’s darkest secret and bring down the establishment once and for all. Betrayed by his service and pursued by mercenaries, Rand must uncover the truth before Britain loses not only its capital, but its crown. Perfect for fans of political intrigue and breathless action, Black Dawn is the page-turner you won’t be able to put down. Start reading the book on my blog here  - Michael Fawkes: The cellars beneath Westminster palace  You can download the whole book here  Black Dawn Novel at blackdawnnovel  

King Louis VIII of France and his very brief reign as King of England. King Louis VIII's reign as King of France didn't last long, just a mere three years between 14th July, 1223, and 8th November, 1226. His reign as King of England didn't ever happen. There's a signed bit of paper saying so. Yes, he was King of England. Well, not actually, but sort of, perhaps, nah he wasn't, get back to France you French pretender. To cut a long story short, Louis came to England on holiday as a not-yet-king-of-France. Whilst holidaying in the south of England, he got really plastered on an all night booze-up celebrating the fact his last remaining virgin dog had just got his leg over. Okay, it was with a teddy bear, but it still counts. Completely sploshed, Prince Louis climbed atop a large wall, pulled his pants down and declared, mid-stream, as he really needed to go, that he was the new King of England. The longer version: The English barons were a bi...

26 Fun Facts About Canada Happy Canada Day to Canadians around the world. Today is Canada day, previously called Dominion Day, which has nothing to do with the Federation's victory over the Dominion during Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Canada Day celebrates the anniversary of the Constitution Act of 1867 (which was originally called the British North American Act), uniting the three colonies of the Province of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswich, into a single Dominion within the British Empire, thereafter known and called Canada.  Fun Fact #1. It was renamed as Canada Day in 1982. Fun Fact #2. In 1980, "O Canada" was made the official National anthem of Canada. Fun Fact #3. Did You Know these people are actually Canadians: Jim Carrey, Ryan Gosling, Ryan Reynolds, Michael J. Fox, Dan Ackroyd, Mike Myers, and William Shatner are all Canadians. Fun Fact #4: Kiefer Sutherland might be a Canadian as well. Perhaps, maybe, yeah he is,...

In 392, the 17 year old Roman Emperor Valentinian II was found murdered by way of hanging. Although some have said it was suicide. Mainly the guy who did it. In 1536, Anne-My-Head-Feels-Loose-Boleyn was tried for treason . And adultery, and incest, and also revealing spoilers about Game of Thrones before her husband, King Henry VIII, had seen the latest episode. In 1567, Mary, Queen of Scots , married her 3rd husband, James Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell, just three months after her second husband, Lord Darnley was assassinated. Not saying she did it, but she probably did. In 1800, King George III of he United Kingdom survived two separate assassination attempts. That's crazy. But not as crazy-bonkers-nutso as the king, who was whacko-jacko.  Ironically, James Hadfield, who unsuccessfully attempted to assassinate the king that day, was later tried and then acquitted by reason of insanity. On this day in history in 1928, Walt Disney intr...

Fun Facts About Julius Caesar: The Extraordinary Life of Julius Caesar. Follow me on Twitter for daily Historical Fun and #OnThisDay tweets. https://twitter.com/HistoricalFun The Ides of March:   On the 15th day of the third month in 44BC, Julius Caesar, the Dictator of Rome, was assassinated by Marcus Brutus, Gaius Cassius Longinus, Decimus Junius Brutus, and a whole host of other Roman Senators. Julius Caesar was stabbed to death on the Ides of March by a consortium of Roman Senators led by Caesar's friend, Marcus-I-did-Eat-Two-Brutus. Julius Caesar had been told to Beware The Ides Of March, but chose to ignore the prophecy. Just before Caesar passed into the shadowy world of gonna-return-as-a-zombie-and-eat-your-face-off, he looked into the eyes of his friend and whispered, "Et Tu, Brutus."  This translates into English as, "Your mamma was a snowblower." *** *** Real translation: "And you, Brutus?" FUN FACTS ABOUT THE EARLY LIFE ...

Fun Facts About King Charles II of England On This Day In History, May 29th 1630, King Charles II of England was born. Follow me on Twitter for daily Historical Fun and #OnThisDay tweets. https://twitter.com/HistoricalFun Ten Fun Facts About King Charles II of England 1) He was oft referred to as the Merry Monarch. Yep, that's completely true. Maybe because of his drunken debauchery, or his fondness to porking every hooker he could find, nobody knows. 2) Charles-Not-A-Spaniel had no legitimate children. Nope, not a one. When he died in 1685 (February 6th), the crown of England passed to his brother, James, who became King James-Is-Gonna-Screw-it-Up. Although no legitimate children, Charles II did have at least a dozen illegitimate kiddies by seven mistresses. Bastards. Although not the cool ones from Game of Thrones. But some of them were actual bastards. At least that's what James II called them. One son of Charles II, the Duke of Monmouth, tried to wrest...