August 25, 1689 The English Army is besieging Carrickfergus in Ireland. Brilliant but unusual gunner Holcroft Blood of the Royal Train of Artillery is ready to unleash his cannons on the rebellious forces of deposed Catholic monarch James II. But this is more than war for Captain Blood, a lust for private vengeance burns within […]
Blood’s Revolution by Angus Donald
It’s 1685 and after the victory of Sedgemoor by King James II’s men and the Bloody Assizes that followed, the British Isles face an uneasy time. Many powerful men have grown tired of Catholic James’s autocratic rule and seek to invite William, the Protestant Prince of Orange, to seize the thrones of the Three Kingdoms. […]
Summer reading for history lovers
Recommended summer reading books, both history and historical fiction, from Historical Writers’ Association authors,
Why the Glorious Revolution was . . . well, neither
On the 330th anniversary of William of Orange’s arrival in England, author Angus Donald argues that the ‘Glorious Revolution’ of 1688 was neither a revolution nor glorious, but a coup won by treachery. I went to a friend’s wedding recently. I wore a suit, prayed a little, received Holy Communion and happily belted out Jerusalem […]
HWA Sharpe Gold Crown shortlist giveaway!
It’s time for the third and last 2018 Historia HWA Crowns shortlist giveaway! This time we’re giving all six novels on the Sharpe Books Gold Crown award shortlist to one winner. Follow the instructions below to enter. You’ve got four chances to win and can enter using any or all of the options: 1. Sign up to […]
Blood’s Revolution by Angus Donald
In an age of treachery, everyone must pick a side . . . Newly returned from years of secret work in Paris, Lieutenant Holcroft Blood, a brilliant but unusual gunnery officer in His Majesty’s Ordnance, must now face King James II’s enemies on the gore-drenched battlefields of the British Isles. But after the victory at […]
Blood’s Game by Angus Donald
London, Winter 1670. Holcroft Blood has entered the employ of the Duke of Buckingham, one of the most powerful men in the kingdom after the King. It is here that his education really begins. With a gift for numbers and decoding ciphers, Holcroft soon proves invaluable to the Duke, but when he’s pushed into a […]
Thomas Blood and the Theft of the Crown Jewels
On May 9, 1671, at a little before 7am on a chilly spring morning, a tall, handsome, middle-aged man calling himself Thomas Ayliffe, and dressed in the severe black gown and square white collar of a humble country parson, presented himself at the door of the Irish Tower in the northeast corner of the Tower of London. He […]