The Friday Digest brings you the best of the week's history news gathered from the experts:
* This week, on 17th April, Baroness Margaret Thatcher's funeral took place with thousands of people lining the streets to witness her final journey. Whilst no-one can doubt the historical importance of the Thatcher era, how history will judge her is still up for debate. Was she the "saviour of a nation... or wrecker of communities?"
This article from the BBC looks at how Thatcher's funeral fits into history, whilst this look at prime minister's funerals from Pitt to Heath provides a crash course in British political history.
* Justin Bieber has caused outrage again this week. His message in a guestbook at the Anne Frank Museum, said that he hoped the Holocaust victim would have been a fan. It is difficult to decide exactly what this tells us about the singer, but critics have drawn a number of conclusions about his motivation.
Is he self-centred or just misunderstood?
* Lucy Worsley examines how modern medicine may help us to discover the real reasons behind King George III's erratic behaviour. In her new series Fit To Rule, she argues that despite his illness, George III was a dedicated and diligent king, and won the respect of his politicians. In fact, she suggests that royal health issues can actually strengthen the monarchy, not least by creating sympathy and affection for an afflicted individual.
* This week The History Press was at The London Book Fair with nearly everyone else who works in publishing. For anyone who wasn't lucky enough to go, their library of articles provides more information on some of the biggest publishing news of the past few months.
Digital was a key focus of this year's fair and this article from the Futurebook blog talks about the new culture needed in the publishing industry to really embrace the 'digital revolution'.
* It's clear that publishing is still a popular industry to work in and whilst there is plenty of advice on how to get into publishing, information on how to develop your career once you do, is more difficult to get hold of. Publishing Trendsetter has looked at the various career options open to individuals and despite the challenging job market, it seems that growth within a publishing career is possible.
* Sunday marked the 101st anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, an event which traumatised the city of Southampton, the port she sailed from, and rendered it nearly mute on the subject for many years afterwards. Few events have captured the public imagination as universally as the Titanic, and The History Press is offering 30% off all Titanic books to commemorate the anniversary.
* A century ago, one section of Vienna played host to Adolf Hitler, Leon Trotsky, Joseph Tito, Sigmund Freud and Joseph Stalin. I can only imagine what it must have been like to have been a neighbour of one of these men, imagine bumping into Hitler on the stairs!
* The woman behind one of Britain's most popular tourist attractions died on April 16th, 1850. Marie Tussaud was eighty-nine and one of the nineteenth century's most successful career women when she died at her London home in Baker Street. Her links with the French Revolution were a complete surprise to me - who knew that she modelled the severed heads of both Marie Antoinette and Robespierre?
What history and publishing stories have you enjoyed reading this week?