Here are the shortlisted and winning stories in the 2024 Historical Writers’ Association (HWA) Dorothy Dunnett Short Story Competition. The 2024 HWA Dorothy Dunnett Short Story Competition shortlist Three short stories are shortlisted for this year’s competition: Mother’s Fury by Laura Karim Our judges called this story “a taught slice of violence and revenge at […]
The liberation of Naples in 1943 – and its dire consequences
When the Allies liberated Naples in 1943 they though it would be a paradise, Keith Lowe writes. But for the devastated city, there were dire consequences, in part caused by the liberators. Naples is a city of dreams. When the Allies first arrived here at the end of 1943, they came with romantic notions of […]
The HWA Dorothy Dunnett Short Story Competition 2024 longlist
We’re delighted to announce the longlist for the 2024 Historical Writers’ Association (HWA) Dorothy Dunnett Short Story Competition: 25 impressive pieces of historical short fiction which go through to the next round of judging. Congratulations to all the longlisted authors! The HWA Dorothy Dunnett Short Story Competition 2024 longlist: Friends by Erika Banerji Forgotten by […]
Red brick women: 1930s university pioneers
What was life like at university for the pioneering women who went to a red brick institution in the 1930s? Lizzie Bentham, who writes mysteries set against this background, draws on family experiences to explain. Each autumn, thousands of students will begin studying at so-called red brick universities, the nine civic universities founded in the […]
The 2024 HWA Crown Awards longlists
We’re delighted to announce the HWA Crown Awards longlists for 2024, celebrating the best in historical writing, fiction and non-fiction, published during 2023–2024. There are three awards categories: HWA Gold Crown, HWA Non-fiction Crown, and HWA Debut Crown. Here are the 36 longlisted books and what our judges say about them. The books longlisted for […]
The long legacy of the First World War
Alan Bardos looks back at the long legacy of the First World War, which still causes conflict over a century later. This August marked the 110th anniversary of the start of the First World War and, with conflict in Eastern Europe and the Middle East, it seems an appropriate moment to trace how the war, […]
Stoke Field, 1487: The ‘forgotten’ battle of the Wars of the Roses
Ethan Bale looks at the Battle of Stoke Field in 1487, a ‘forgotten’ fight which finally secured the throne of England for Henry VII and the Tudor dynasty. It’s the perfect pub quiz gotcha: What is considered to be the last battle of the Wars of the Roses? If you said “Bosworth Field” you’d be […]
Japan’s court ladies, warrior women and courtesans
Lesley Downer, the author of The Shortest History of Japan, looks at different roles taken by women during that country’s long history: court ladies, warrior women and courtesans. She shows how, through the ages, they have found ways to use their skills to make their voices heard. Court ladies More than a thousand years ago, […]