Historical Stuff – Page 2 – Tracy Cooper-Posey

August 24, 410: The Day the World Changed (And Most People Missed It)

Historical Stuff / August 24, 2025 / ancient history, August 24, civilization, fall of Rome, historical perspective, history for writers, Kiss Across Time, millennium, Roman Empire, Roman history, Roman women, Rome, time travel, Tracy Cooper-Posey, Visigoths, Western Rome, worldbuilding / 4 minutes of reading

On this day in 410 AD, Rome was sacked—and the world changed. But perhaps the real marvel isn’t that Rome fell. It’s that it lasted more than a thousand years. From primitive huts to aqueducts, concrete, dentistry, and legal systems we still use today, Rome wasn’t just a city—it was civilization. This post explores what a millennium really means… and what we lost when Western Rome fell.

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Boudicca: The Celtic Queen Who Dared Rome

2 Comments / Fantasy Romance, Historical Romance, Historical Romantic Suspense, Historical Stuff / August 10, 2025 / ancient Britain, Arthurian legend, Boudicca, British mythology, Celtic history, Celtic women, Enya Boadicea, historical fiction inspiration, Iceni tribe, King Arthur, Roman Britain, storytelling history, Tracy Cooper-Posey style, warrior queens, women in history / 4 minutes of reading

Boudicca wasn’t just a queen—she was an inferno wrapped in iron. After the Romans flogged her and assaulted her daughters, she rallied her tribe and scorched a path through Roman Britain so fierce, it still smolders in the national memory. She’s not just part of history—she is history. And maybe, just maybe, she shares blood with Arthur himself. The stories blur. The legends tangle. But oh, what a tale they tell.

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Water, Arches, and Ancient Brilliance: The Underrated Fascination of Aqueducts

Historical Stuff, Interesting Settings / August 3, 2025 / ancient technology, aqueducts, archaeology, author life, Eagle Aqueduct, France travel, Historical Fiction, history, infrastructure, Nerja, Pont du Gard, Roman architecture, Roman Empire, Roman engineering, Spain travel, The Triumph of Felix, Tracy Cooper-Posey, Türkiye, writing inspiration / 4 minutes of reading

“Aqueducts are the perfect intersection of beauty and practicality. They’re not just pretty ruins—they were the arteries of ancient cities, still standing, still defying time.”

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The Devil’s in the Details—and It Might Save Your Life

4 Comments / Historical Romance, Historical Romantic Suspense, Historical Stuff, Ruminating, Spy Thrillers / June 22, 2025 / attention to detail, Canadian culture shock, character detail, cultural differences, historical espionage, Historical Fiction, narrative authenticity, Regency romance, small mistakes, Special Operations Executive, spy disguise, storytelling tips, wartime fashion, writing craft, WWII spies / 3 minutes of reading

Passing for local could be life or death. A British spy in WWII might lose everything over the way a button was sewn, or how he held up three fingers. It’s the tiniest details that betray us—on the battlefield, in foreign lands, or even just trying to order coffee after moving countries. Trust me: I’ve lived it. The wrong Tuesday nearly gave me a migraine.

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Still Flying: Why Amelia Earhart’s Mystery Might Be Better Unsolved

6 Comments / Historical Stuff, Ruminating / April 20, 2025 / Amelia Earhart, Real Mysteries / 3 minutes of reading

There’s something about a good mystery that just gets under your skin, isn’t there? The kind that makes you sit up a little straighter when it shows up in a documentary at 11:30 p.m. and suddenly you have to know what happened. Amelia Earhart is one of those mysteries. Maybe the mystery.

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The Most Dangerous of All Allied Spies

2 Comments / Historical Stuff / February 16, 2025 / espionage, Virginia Hall, WWII / 1 minute of reading

When I was first researching what would become the Adelaide Becket series, I stumbled across a fascinating historical figure: Virginia Hall.

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A Most Romantic Sinking

2 Comments / Historical Stuff / April 14, 2024 / Jaws, Peter Benchley, shipwrecks, The Deep, The Indianapolis, The Lusitania, The Spanish Treasure Fleet, Titanic / 4 minutes of reading

Today, in 1912, and very close to midnight, the RMS Titanic grazed past the iceberg that would eventually sink her, nearly three hours later. Tomorrow will be the 112 anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic. Most of us have a romanticized perception of the Titanic, thanks to the James Cameron movie. But the Titanic

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Lest We Forget

Historical Stuff, Uncategorized / November 11, 2023 / Remembrance Day / 2 minutes of reading

Because I do a lot of historical research, I’m pretty familiar with the facts and consequences of World Word I, and the longer-term impacts of both World Wars. But you don’t have to be a history buff to be aware that both wars are still the biggest, most destructive conflicts, with the highest casualties the

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King Arthur Didn’t Exist. Or He Did. Or He Might Have…

2 Comments / Historical Romance, Historical Stuff / August 3, 2022 / Celtic, Geoffrey of Monmouth, King Arthur / 8 minutes of reading

I got an email the other day from a reader about the Once and Future Hearts series. She said, in part: Wow, I’m really blown away by all the research you’ve done! I scrambled to quickly correct her impression. Here’s a filled out version of my answer to her about my research for the series.

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This Is How Our Bodies Have Changed Over Time

Historical Stuff / June 23, 2022 / Atlas Obscura, Corsetry, The Met / 3 minutes of reading

No, not just yours. All of us! We’ve all read enough historicals and historical romances to know that the tight-lacing and corsets worn through a lot of history made women’s bodies look…different. For instance, Edwardian women with their jutting upper bodices (see right). The fashion plates of the day made them appear to be “s”

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