Cornwall in 1800. Imprisoned on false pretences, Madeleine Pelligrew, former mistress of Pendenning Hall, has spent the last 14 years shuttled between increasingly destitute and decrepit mad houses. When a strange man appears out of the blue to release her, she can’t quite believe that her freedom comes without a price. Hiding her identity, Madeleine […]
Historical books to look out for in 2022
Our popular annual list of books to look out for during the year is back for 2022, with history, biography and historical fiction. Here are books to read from HWA authors covering eras from Ancient Rome to the 1980s and sweeping across continents from China to Russia and India, the USA to Australia and the […]
Christmas reading 2021 – the best historical books
We asked eight authors to each recommend a historical book they’d love to receive for Christmas 2021, and one they would give as a Christmas gift. They include many of the best books published this year. We hope these suggestions inspire you, whether you’re looking for ideas for presents or planning to curl up in […]
The Butcher of Berner Street by Alex Reeve
The headlines scream warnings about the ‘Butcher of Berner Street!’ and the journalist behind them – Leo Stanhope – is secretly thrilled to see the effect his words are having. Leo is used to covering more mundane issues, but when an anonymous letter summons him to a club in East London, only for the owner […]
Historia interviews, 2021 Crown Awards shortlists: Mick Finlay
Mick Finlay talks to Historia for the second in our series of interviews with authors whose books have been shortlisted for HWA Crown Awards. Mick’s novel, Arrowood and the Thames Corpses, follows the investigations of William Arrowood and Norman Barnett, private inquiry agents in London who get the cases – and clients – that aren’t […]
Commander by Paul Fraser Collard
Egypt, 1869. Jack Lark has reinvented himself once more. Working as an unofficial agent for the Consul-General, he moves among the most powerful men in Cairo. But when the opportunity arises to join legendary explorer Sir Samuel White Baker on his expedition into the Sudan, Jack can’t resist a new adventure. Jack assumes command of […]
Black Elk, Lakota Sioux holy man, warrior, survivor
Black Elk deserves to be remembered, says author Alec Marsh. He tells Historia about this extraordinary Oglala Lakota (Sioux) holy man, a mystic and warrior who fought at Little Bighorn yet lived until 1950. Black Elk survived Wounded Knee, joined Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show, converted to Catholicism, and may eventually be beatified. His story […]
The link between Scotland and the Inuit
Elisabeth Gifford writes about the link between Scottish whalers and the Inuit people living on the Arctic Atlantic coasts, which is a major theme in her latest book, A Woman Made of Snow. The Arctic Bar in Dundee is an unprepossessing pub with a modern frontage, but inside the dusty harpoon guns and photographs of […]