David Gilman’s new novel, Rage of Swords, is the latest in his Master of War series and sees Thomas Blackstone in action in Italy. David tells Historia about the ideas and research behind his book, as well as offering advice for authors — and choosing a delightfully unexpected item he’d like to have beside his […]
The Bruegel Boy by Emma Darwin
In the summer of 1566 an inferno of political rebellion and image-smashing, the Beeldenstorm, swept across Flanders and Holland; young Gillis Vervloet, model and muse to artist Pieter Bruegel, almost didn’t survive. More than 60 years later, in the Saarland forest, Gil wants only to enter the monastery of St Bartolomëus and live out his days […]
Swords in the Snow by Matthew Harffy and Steven A McKay
December, 1330. When thieves snatch a priceless holy relic from a Pontefract church, Friar Tuck and the bailiff, John Little, set out through snowbound Yorkshire to recover it. The relic is the only hope for a gravely ill girl. But the hunt soon turns bloody. From frozen dales to the mud-slick streets of York, John […]
Hagtale by Sally O’Reilly
In 11th-century Scotland, feral wolf-child Wulva is brought up by witches and then sent to live at a Scottish castle, where she falls under the spell of cruel, ambitious Lord Macbeth. Three hundred years later, gentle Brother Rowan goes on a strange and perilous journey to a remote and ancient monastery to write a history […]
Dead On by Bryan J Mason
In Belfast in 1990, everyone knows who they are and what side they are on. Or do they? Harry Burnard and The Squad are back looking for new criminal cases to work. They are not allowed to work on terrorist cases, only crime. But there is no crime. Only terrorism. Carlo Fontaine leads the IRA’s […]
The troubles with history
How best to write a novel about events in recent — and still sensitive and painful — history? That was the question Bryan J Mason faced when he began his trilogy set in Northern Ireland during the Troubles. His solution may be surprising, but it reflects the reality of life there. Although a recognisable period […]
Hunter Class by Alan Bardos
July 1943, and Operation Husky, the invasion of Sicily, is under way. Lieutenant Daniel Nichols has been recruited by Ian Fleming into 30 Commando, a specialist unit that goes in ahead of the main assault to capture top secret enemy material. Nichols discovers evidence of a secret which could change the course of the conflict. […]
Marianne by Alice McVeigh
When Marianne – still beautiful, still impulsive and not yet twenty-one – returns to London, she is rich, with a house in Mayfair and an estate in Dorsetshire. Despite her resolve to remain single, she finds herself besieged with admirers, including the dangerously attractive Willoughby and the charming and irreverent Crawford. Then Marianne’s younger sister, […]