John Brown goes to vote
Among the directions in which research for Bonaparte & Brimstone took me, one of the most unexpected was into the murky world of Georgian politics. The book includes the story of a riot in the build-up to the 1820 general election, during which John Monk prevented a candidate from being thrown to his death from Chester’s Old Dee Bridge.
Conclusion to the 1824 Leghorn diary
One of the most intriguing parts of Bonaparte and Brimstone for me has been the 1824 diary kept by a passenger on board John Monk's brig, the William Black. It is rare to uncover a first-hand account of the man you are describing, and it was satisfying to be able to reproduce an unknown primary source.
The Monk window, Neston
The window which John Monk gifted to the church of St Mary and St Helen in 1874 was designed by Henry Holiday, a Pre-Raphaelite artist and one of the leading designers of stained glass in the second half of the 19th century.
