How, in 1919, could nations come together to begin rebuilding a world shattered by war? The answer seemed to be the Paris Peace Conference, which put together a plan which led to the Treaty of Versailles and what turned out to be a flawed and fragile peace. Flora Johnston’s great-aunt was a typist there, and […]
TV review: The Mirror and the Light
Tracy Borman is a historian and author. She’s also the biographer of Thomas Cromwell, the central figure in the BBC’s adaptation of Hilary Mantel’s The Mirror and the Light. We’re delighted that she’s reviewed the first programme in the series for us (and relieved that she found it lived up to her expectations). I am […]
Writing about 1066: a male club?
Is writing fiction about 1066, or the Anglo-Saxons in general, the exclusive preserve of a male-only club? Ellen Alpsten was surprised to hear people suggest this. The author of The Last Princess argues that the events leading to the Battle of Hastings merit a ‘female retelling’. In autumn 2024, we celebrate the 958th anniversary of […]
Review: After The Flood by Alec Marsh
Mark Ellis reviews Alec Marsh’s After The Flood and finds it “excellent and gripping”. Read on to see what he enjoyed so much. After The Flood is the fourth of Alec Marsh’s imaginative 1930s ripping yarns featuring the unlikely heroic duo of Drabble and Harris. I very much enjoyed the first three books as I […]
The 2024 HWA Crown Awards shortlists
We’re delighted to announce the HWA Crown Awards shortlists for 2024, celebrating the best in historical writing, fiction and non-fiction. There are three awards categories: HWA Gold Crown, HWA Non-fiction Crown, and HWA Debut Crown. Six books are chosen in each category. Here they are, with what our judges say about them: The books shortlisted […]
An epidemic of murder in late Victorian London
When Sarah Bax Horton discovered a police ancestor who worked on the Jack the Ripper investigation, her research led her to write two non-fiction books based on the Metropolitan Police Whitechapel Murders files. Her second book, Arm of Eve, proposes a new prime suspect for the Thames Torso Killer, a serial killer active at the […]
Christian versus pagan: was Charlemagne’s conquest of Saxony the first crusade?
Angus Donald, author of Blood of the Bear, examines Charlemagne’s conquest of Saxony in the late 8th century. It was a campaign not just about territory but about religion: Christian versus pagan. Could it be considered the first ‘crusade’? The First Crusade, historians claim, was launched by Pope Urban II in 1096, after the Pontiff […]
Historia film review: Firebrand
Nice costumes, says Linda Porter, can’t rescue this bizarre adaptation of Elizabeth Fremantle’s historical novel about Katherine Parr, first published as Queen’s Gambit in 2013. I should perhaps begin this review by confessing that I’m a great admirer of Liz Fremantle’s historical novels. She has covered major figures and events of the 16th and 17th […]