Bloodlines, Chris Bishop’s latest book set in the ninth century, features a stable boy who must try to train an almost-unrideable stallion. Would such an animal be used only for transport, or could it have been a warhorse? For Historia, Chris considers the role of horses in battle at the time of Alfred the Great. […]
Bloodlines by Chris Bishop
Wessex, AD893. As the threat of yet another Viking invasion looms over his troubled realm, Alfred, King of Wessex, reviews and strengthens his defences. Among his many concerns is the fate of Edward, his stable boy, who he believes to be the bastard son of revered warrior Matthew, who died serving the Saxon cause. If […]
Blood Runs Thicker by Sarah Hawkswood
August 1144. Osbern de Lench is known far and wide as a hard master, whose temper is perpetually frayed. After his daily ride to survey his land, his horse returns to the hall riderless, and the lifeless body of the lord is found soon after. Was it the work of thieves, or something closer to […]
Why I wrote about Irish history
Tom Williams’s Burke series of novels set during the Napoleonic Wars takes the spy James Burke across continents as he pursues adventure, love – and the French. But when it came to sending his character, a historical figure born in Ireland, back to his native land, Tom found himself asking: why write about Irish history? […]
Imagining Olga Gray, a beautiful spy
The bestselling author Rachel Hore tells Historia about the time research for a new novel unearthed a character so compelling that she took over, and changed, Rachel’s thoughts about her book – which became the recently-published A Beautiful Spy. Serendipity must be the origin of many a historical novel. I was researching an idea for […]
Historia giveaway! Ben Kane’s two latest books
Historia’s giveaway for March 2021 is for two books: one luxury gold-foiled proof of Lionheart by Ben Kane, his new retelling of the story of Richard I, as well as one copy of the red-foiled sequel, Crusader, which will be published on 29 April, 2021. Entries open at 12pm on 8 March, 2021, and close […]
A Burning Sea by Theodore Brun
Convinced he is cursed, Erlan Aurvandil has turned his back on his native Northern lands. In search of freedom, he embarks on a perilous trip to Byzantium, the greatest city in the world. But as his voyage ends, Erlan is brutally betrayed and sold into slavery to a powerful Byzantine general. Meanwhile, Lilla Sviggarsdottír, Queen […]
A Time for Swords by Matthew Harffy
There had been portents – famine, whirlwinds, lightning from clear skies, serpents seen flying through the air. But when the raiders came, no one was prepared. They came from the North, their dragon-prowed longships gliding out of the dawn mist as they descended on the kingdom’s most sacred site. It is 8 June, AD793, and […]