Historia is giving away all six books shortlisted for the 2023 HWA Debut Crown Award to two lucky winners! The two winners of our HWA Debut Crown Award shortlist giveaway will each receive: Clytemnestra by Costanza CasatiLessons in Chemistry by Bonnie GarmusThe Secret Diaries of Charles Ignatius Sancho by Paterson JosephThe Secrets of Hartwood Hall by […]
Rewriting Creation: the Fall of Woman
Nikki Marmery explores the ancient stories that made her ask: where is the mother in the creation myth? This question inspired her to write Lilith, an allegory of the demise of female divinity and equality in prehistory – in other words, the Fall of Woman. The legend of Lilith, Adam’s first wife in the Garden […]
Omdurman by Griff Hosker
Being a soldier of the Queen at the end of the 19th century meant spending much of your time abroad. Jack Roberts is a hero and a good soldier but he is torn between his career and his son who is looked after in England. When the Mahdists begin to enlarge their empire Jack is […]
Rising Tide by Alan Bardos
November 1940, and Lieutenant Daniel Nichols, a former pacifist turned crusader, is wounded taking part in the Royal Navy’s carrier born air raid on the Italian Battle Fleet in Taranto. Six months later Sándor Braun, a British double agent, escorts a Japanese delegation around Taranto and discovers that they are planning a similar attack. But […]
War Cry by Ian Ross
It’s 1265, and England has a new master. Simon de Montfort’s victory at the Battle of Lewes has made him king in all but name. He has vowed to restore the rights and liberties of the kingdom, but now even his friends grow wary of his power. As old alliances break down, new rebellions gather […]
From Taranto to Pearl Harbor – spies and inspiration
To mark the anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941, Alan Bardos explains how uncovering a tale of spies helped him link Britain’s attack on Taranto in 1940 to the Japanese strike – and inspired his new novel, Rising Tide. I have always been captivated by the daring and skill of the Fleet […]
Poetic Justice by Fiona Forsyth
It’s AD9 and Rome’s celebrated love poet Ovid finds himself in exile, courtesy of an irate Emperor, in the far-flung town of Tomis. Appalled at being banished to a barbarous region at the very edge of the Empire, Ovid soon discovers that he has a far more urgent — and potentially perilous — issue to […]
The Pantomime Murders by Fiona Veitch Smith
December, 1929. Snow is falling, and Miss Clara Vale is wrapped up against the cold as she braves the icy streets of Newcastle in her latest investigation. When a young actress from the touring pantomime of Cinderella arrives at her door, Clara isn’t sure what to make of her request. Sybil Langford, the legendary fairy […]