The Friday Digest brings you the best of the week's history news gathered from the experts:
* The world premiere of The Great Gatsby took place in New York yesterday and public interest in F. Scott Fitzgerald and his work is at an all time high. Now that his handwritten records of his life and career have been made available to fans and scholars online, we can get more of an insight into the mind of the popular author.
Fitzgerald has long been associated with the idea of being beautiful and damned, and the New Yorker picked up on this theme in a bookplate series in 1925. The Huffington Post goes into more detail on this, isn't the artwork just stunning?
* This week the Telegraph explored how historical figures like Admiral Lord Nelson and Henry VIII would look if they were alive today. The project was commissioned by history TV channel Yesterday to celebrate its new series, the Secret Life Of... and saw digital artists working closely with history experts.
The modern portraits have been causing some controversy but I love them, especially Elizabeth I. Who is your favourite?
* Anne Bronte, sister to Charlotte and Emily, has finally had the error on her gravestone corrected - 164 years after her death. The Bronte Society has installed the new plaque alongside the original, which has deteriorated over the years. Though she is often overlooked in favour of her sisters, 'Anne is now viewed as the most radical of the sisters, writing about tough subjects such as women's need to maintain independence, and how alcoholism can tear a family apart,' said the society's Sally McDonald.
* Britain's most remote bookshop, located on the northern tip of the Scottish mainland in Durness, Sutherland has gone up for sale. Loch Croispol Bookshop has gained a reputation for stocking difficult to find books and new owners will be in a beautiful, if isolated location. Perhaps you could have a Neolithic house like the ones at Stonehenge?
The Bookseller blog discusses whether publishers should act to help retailers in physical spaces or whether online commerce is the way to go. Do you buy books in shops or online?
* According to the Publisher's Association, book sales grew 4% in 2012 thanks to bestsellers such as 'Fifty Shades of Grey'. The book might not be finished yet, but as more and more people are turning towards digital and e-books, the challenges facing publishers are growing. Philip Jones at The Bookseller feels that judging the pace of digital change will be one of the key challenges facing publishing executives in the months and years to come.
* A number of struggling primary school pupils will be given help towards their reading by a partnership which will bring 1,000 free eReaders into schools. The Evening Standard and Barnes & Noble have partnered up to encourage children in schools with some of the highest illiteracy rates to read books via the eReaders.
Do you think this is a good idea to help cut illiteracy rates?
* On Tuesday 30th April, Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands abdicated and hand over the sceptre of power to her eldest son, Willem Alexander. He became king in a secular ceremony and this article from the BBC compares a very modern monarchy with the system we have in the UK.
* A postcard from a British soldier who was held at Limburg an der Lahn, a German prisoner of war camp, has come to light 95 years after it was sent.
* For 60 years, mysterious coded letters sent from John Pryor (a British prisoner of war) to his family have remained unencrypted but a top mathematician has broken the cipher and unlocked their secrets.
* WWII planes have also been in the news this week, with the Imperial War Museum sharing the special relationship between RAF Duxford and the Spitfire. Work has also started to raise a unique World War II aircraft from the floor of the English Channel just off the Kent coast. The Dornier 17 aircraft is the last of its kind, and lies in 50ft of water on the Goodwin Sands.
* A medieval tome which popularised the story of King Arthur is thought to have been written in a lost Oxford chapel. Geoffrey of Monmouth's The History of the Kings of Britain is believed to have been penned at St George's chapel, before it was demolished to make way for Oxford Castle.
* The mystery of the 200 year old British soldier found in the dunes of Holland appears to be solved. The deceased individual has been identified as a member of the Coldstream Guards and is thought to be either Nathaniel Haines or Thomas Taylor.
Which history and publishing stories have you enjoyed reading this week?