Author Eric Lee on his thirty year quest to publish a book about Georgia’s forgotten revolution. I was born in America at the height of the Cold War, during the McCarthy era, when the word “socialist” was a term of derision. But I somehow managed to find myself on the Left (the Vietnam war may […]
Russian Roulette by Sara Sheridan
Brighton 1956 When Mirabelle’s on-off boyfriend, Superintendent Alan McGregor, is taken off a gruesome murder case because the key suspect is an old school friend, Mirabelle steps in to unravel the tangle of poisoned gin, call girls and high stakes gambling that surrounds the death. It isn’t long before McGregor’s integrity is called into question […]
Unseen Auschwitz
William Ryan on the extraordinary photo album that inspired his novel, The Constant Soldier. The Constant Soldier is set at the end of World War 2 in a valley in what was then Nazi Germany, at a time when the war was lost. The novel, about a damaged German soldier seeking redemption, has its origins […]
Russian Revolution: Hope, Tragedy, Myths
The British Library’s new exhibition marks the centenary of the Russian Revolution. Jason Hewitt gets a sneak preview. As we have all experienced, the last twelve months has seen a series of seismic political shifts taking place across the western world. Whether it’s the surprise Brexit vote, the election of Trump, or France’s ousting of her political […]
The Ranas and the Raj
Louise Brown charts the history of the extraordinary Nepalese Rana dynasty and their complicated relationship with the British Raj. Nepal enchants foreigners. I have been captivated by the country since I lived in Kathmandu twenty five years ago, and writing my latest novel, The Himalayan Summer, has taken me back there again. Today, Nepal is […]
Historia Interviews: Rory Clements
Best known for the acclaimed John Shakespeare series of historical thrillers, Rory Clements won the CWA Ellis Peters Historical Award with Revenger and hit the bestseller lists with Holy Spy. His new book, Corpus, is the first in a major new series and is already garnering great reviews. You can win a copy here. Katherine Clements (no […]
The Paradise Ghetto
If you are going to write a novel about the Holocaust you have both a responsibility and a challenge. The responsibility is to the six million who were murdered. If you are bringing the Holocaust into your work merely to add some extra tragedy or to tug at the reader’s heartstrings then, at best what […]
The Crown: Netflix’s Royal Affair
‘Prepare to be welcomed into the coveted world of power and privilege….the leaders of an empire await,’ states the blurb on Netflix about The Crown. Whether or not you subscribe to the streaming service you will doubtless be aware of the eagerly anticipated new series about the reign of Elizabeth II from Peter Morgan, (of […]