Philip Lindsay

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Philip Lindsay (1906–1958) was an English writer, who mostly wrote historical novels. He was the son of Norman Lindsay, an Australian artist.

His novels often treated his subject matter in a dark fashion, with his central characters depicted as brooding, depressed, or disturbed characters. They include:-

The Devil and King John, influenced by Margaret Murray's The Divine King in England, according to which John had leanings towards the "Old Religion" of witchcraft, and his first wife Hadwisa was an actual witch. However its treatment of the better-established facts of John's reign, although ambiguous, was more sympathetic to John than most novels, at least at the time it was written.

One Dagger for Two, about Christopher Marlowe. In this account Marlowe is an atheist, but heterosexual. He was stabbed in a tavern quarrel, but over a dispute about a woman, not just a petty dispute over the bill.

They Have Their Dreams, about Perkin Warbeck, claims that Warbeck was really the illegitimate son of Margaret of York and a clergyman.

The Little Wench, about Sir Lancelot and Queen Guinevere.

Here Comes the King, about Catherine Howard, Henry VIII's fifth wife.

The Merry Mistress, about Jane Shore, mistress of Edward IV.

He also wrote a highly sympathetic biography of Richard III of England, The Tragic King.

He did some work for the film industry. He was one of a team of writers on Song of Freedom and Under the Red Robe, and was a technical advisor on The Private Life of Henry VIII.