The Friday Digest brings you the best of the week's history news gathered from the experts:
* In a fascinating programme this week, Mary Beard attempted to find out more about the emperor Caligula who went down in history as the worst Roman emperor ever: pervert, sadist and probably completely bonkers. But does 'Little Boots' really deserve his bad reputation?
* If the weather actually cheers up this weekend, why not try experimenting with a Roman oven and making delicious dishes from Parthian chicken to flat breads?
* Many Britons would consider their little island secure, at least since the Norman Conquest, but in fact there have been seventy-three invasions since 1066. Clearly Britain is less of a fortress than many people may have thought. The Telegraph has listed all of the invasions here and the Mail has some images to illustrate them. I knew that many attacks have come from France over the years but who knew that America also attempted an invasion during the War of Independence?
* The mysterious stone coffin found at the resting place of Richard III has been opened and found to contain ... another coffin, made of lead. It is thought to contain the remains of a medieval knight or one of the friary's founders as archaeologists believe that it was sealed in the thirteenth or fourteenth century, more than 100 years before Richard's hasty burial.
* Turkish archaeologists have found a stone chest in the 1,350 year old Balatlar Church in Turkey containing a relic which is venerated as an original piece of Jesus' cross. The church was built in AD 660 during the Byzantine era and excavations at the site started in 2009. Ruins of an ancient Roman bath have been found, along with more than 1,000 skeletons.
* An earthenware jug may shed light on biblical history as Douglas Petrovich, ancient Near Eastern history and biblical studies expert has translated the text on it. Rather than being written in the language of the Canaanites, the mysterious language is actually the oldest form of written Hebrew, placing the ancient Israelites in Jerusalem earlier than previously believed. If this is true, then the Old Testament can be read as a historical account of real-life events
* Sex and the novelist- a writer's fascination with sex.
* Christa Del Giorno muses on death and bookstores as Josh Corman asks what's really killing students' love of reading?
* Taking a love of all things literary to the next level, a Vancouver-based actress, model and former circus artist Jori Phillips, 21, crafted a dress made entirely out of the pages of a book. I'm not sure how practical it would be (especially in the British climate!) but it definitely is a conversation starter!
* Earlier this year, an Israeli advertising agency teamed up with Israeli bookstore chain Steimatzky to create a cool ad campaign for books and reading which features readers sleeping next to their favourite literary characters. I think Sherlock Holmes is my favourite!
* Speaking of favourite literary characters, which Jane Austen character are you? Take this quiz and find out ...
* A combination of rising costs and declining visitor numbers has pushed Britain's stately homes into a crisis. But what can the British public do?
* Local libraries across the UK are starting to offer e-reader workshops to help people get the most out of their e-reader and also allow people to 'try before they buy' if they are considering investing in one. This sounds fantastic and I will definitely be visiting my local library if they do something similar.
* Amazon is waging war against everyone, not just publishing so Chris McVeigh says that publishers need to stop whining about them and just get on with it ...
* Photographer Bob Mazzer spent twenty years commuting across London using the Tube, here The Telgrapoh shares a selection of his work which shows stunning images of the Tube and its travellers in the '70s and '80s.
* When USS Indianapolis was hit by Japanese torpedoes on 30 July 1945, hundreds of crewmen jumped into the water to escape the burning ship. They tried to stay afloat in the shark-filled water until help arrived but despite sending an SOS, no-one had been sent to look for them...
* For many people (myself included) passport photos are a less than flattering picture and indeed Al Gore quipped 'Airplane travel is nature's way of making you look like your passport photo.' But as these celebrity passport photos show 'even the brutality of the photo booth cannot dim true glamour'.
* After examining how the typewriter played a crucial role in introducing women into the workplace last week, The BBC looks at the era of the sexually charged office where advice like this was commonplace: "Learn his preferences and obey them even if you do not always agree with his ideas or methods. Naturally a man likes to have his wants attended to, who doesn't? Assume that he is always right." So much has changed since then and to modern eyes, this reads more like an out-dated marriage manual than secretarial training!
* The body of this 13-year-old girl, believed to be an Incan human sacrifice, was entombed near the summit of the Llullaillaco volcano in Argentina, a site 6,000ft higher than Mont Blanc and has been called one of the best–preserved mummies in the world. The discovery of the 'Incan Ice Maiden' has given scientists detailed information about how the child sacrifices were drugged and intoxicated. Tests show they had consumed alcohol and coca leaves (from which cocaine is extracted) in the months before their deaths. This was perhaps to induce an altered state of consciousness associated by the Incas with religious experience.
* Two 6,000-year-old Neolithic 'halls of the dead' found in Herefordshire have been called 'the discovery of a lifetime' by archaeologists.
* A new perspective on the Titanic disaster has been proposed by Atlanticus with the claim that 'passengers are to blame for the death toll' rather than the shipowner or the legal authorities. Do you agree?
* The Queen's 'Third World War' speech has been revealed. She was expected to urge Britons to pray and remain united and resolute in the event of the 'madness' of nuclear war, papers from 1983 show.
Which history and publishing stories have you enjoyed reading this week?