Many historical writers come across horrific events from the past during their research, and have to, however temporarily, see the world though the eyes of the perpetrators of atrocities. Douglas Jackson, author of Blood Sacrifice, writes about the mental cost of living in the minds of monsters. I recently came across a quote from a […]
Cut and Run by Alec March
March, 1916, and the Great War rages across Europe. In the British Army garrison town of Bethune in northern France, a woman’s body is found in a park. Her throat has been cut. Marie-Louise Toulon is a prostitute at the Blue Lamp, the brothel catering exclusively to officers of the British Army stationed in the […]
Paris, 1919: a fragile peace
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 […]
The Murderer Inside the Mirror by Sarah Rayne
It’s 1908. The Fitzglens, one of London’s leading theatre families and part-time thieves, are plotting their next scheme when they receive terrible news about Great Uncle Montague. He’s been killed in a tragic accident at his Notting Hill home. Montague will be much missed, not just for his talent in art forgery, but his death […]
The Paris Peacemakers by Flora Johnston
1919 in Paris. And as the guns fall silent, people attempt to start afresh while the fabric of Europe is stitched together for good or ill. Stella Rutherford, desperate to staunch her grief, has thrown herself into her work at the International Peace Conference, while the crucial negotiations play out. Her sister Corran is also […]
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 […]
Naples 1944 by Keith Lowe
This is the story of the first major European city to be liberated by the Allies: what happened to Naples when the scourge of war lashed down upon it, but also, crucially, what happened next. The first major history of wartime Naples to appear in the English language fills a glaring gap in the British […]
Night Climbing by Sarah Day
When Sylvia’s son, Cyril, vanishes during a perilous school trek in the German mountains, her world crumbles. A pre-trip postcard from Cyril hints that his teacher – now lauded for his rescue efforts – knew more about the stormy conditions than he has admitted. Sylvia shifts from frantic mother to justice seeker. Meanwhile in Hofsgrund, […]