David Gilman, whose acclaimed Master of War novels are set during the Hundred Years’ War, looks at the early years of the long-drawn-out conflict between England and France and how real events helped shape his books. Family arguments can stir up trouble and sometimes go beyond a family member not being invited to the next […]
The Siege of Calais
The historian Dan Jones looks at the “gripping” story of the Siege of Calais in 1347, which has had little attention from English historians. It’s part of the background to his new book, Wolves of Winter. In front of the town hall in Calais today stands a magnificent sculpture by Auguste Rodin. It depicts six […]
Ten fascinating facts about the Knights Templar
The Knights Templar: powerful, dedicated, richer than kings, they were legendary even during their own existence. And many myths about them have flourished in the seven centuries since they were suppressed. Boyd and Beth Morrison, this month’s guest contributors, are the authors of The Last Templar. They share some of the fascinating facts they learned […]
Operation Fortitude by Hilary Green
France, 1944, and Agent Kim Maxwell has a new mission. She’s investigating the death of Bernard Leblanc, a local SOE leader. It looks like an accident, but Kim knows better. Her HQ is the Bistro Le Renard Rouge. The Red Fox. And the chef is none other than her lover and fellow agent Roland, AKA […]
Paris Requiem by Chris Lloyd
Paris in 1940. As the city adjusts to life under Nazi occupation, Detective Eddie Giral struggles to reconcile his job as a policeman with his new role enforcing a regime he cannot believe in but must work under. He’s sacrificed so much in order to survive in this new world, but the past is not […]
Two Houses, Two Kingdoms by Catherine Hanley
The 12th and 13th centuries were a time of personal monarchy, when the close friendship or petty feuding between kings and queens could determine the course of history. The Capetians of France and the Angevins of England waged war, made peace, and intermarried. The lands under the control of the English king once reached to […]
The Dark Queens by Shelley Puhak
Brunhild was a Visigothic princess, raised to be married off for the sake of alliance-building. Her sister-in-law Fredegund started out as a lowly palace slave. And yet — in sixth-century Merovingian France, where women were excluded from noble succession and royal politics was a blood sport — these two iron-willed strategists reigned over vast realms […]
Paris Requiem by Chris Lloyd
Paris, September 1940, and after three months under Nazi Occupation, not much can shock Detective Eddie Giral. That is, until he finds a murder victim who was supposed to be in prison. Eddie knows, because he put him there. The dead man is not the first or the last criminal being let loose onto the […]