Matthew Harffy looks at 8th-century Al-Andalus, the setting for his latest book, A Day of Reckoning. Several decades after the conquest of most of Spain by Islamic armies, Al-Andalus already had a rich culture in which the arts and sciences flourished. But it was also a place of conflict and cruelty, as he discovered. The […]
Brávellir: the greatest battle… that never was
Angus Donald, author of King of the North, writes about the Battle of Brávellir, a famous Viking conflict… which probably never happened. But, he says, we can still enjoy the epic story, a 12th-century piece of historical fiction which inspired his own novel. “Then the trumpets sounded, and both sides engaged in battle with all […]
Ancient Love Stories by Emily Hauser
We don’t have to look to works of fiction to find tales of true love. The pages of history are crammed with stories about love that are, quite literally, true. And many of them are among the greatest love stories ever told. Ancient Love Stories brings together some of the most remarkable romances in history — […]
The 2023 HWA Crown Awards longlists
We’re delighted to announce the HWA Crown Awards longlists for 2023: 36 books celebrating the best in historical writing, fiction and non-fiction, published during 2022–2023. There are three awards categories: HWA Gold Crown, HWA Non-fiction Crown, and HWA Debut Crown. Here are the longlisted books and what our judges say about them. The books longlisted […]
Widows of the Ice by Anne Fletcher
As Captain Scott lay freezing and starving to death on his return journey from the South Pole, he wrote with a stub of pencil his final words: ‘For God’s sake look after our people.’ Uppermost in his mind were the three women who would now be widows: Kathleen, his own bohemian artist wife; Oriana, the […]
Mothers of the Mind by Rachel Trethewey
Virginia Woolf, Agatha Christie and Sylvia Plath are three of our most famous authors. For the first time this book tells in full the story of the remarkable mothers who shaped them. Julia Stephen, Clara Miller and Aurelia Plath were fascinating women in their own rights, and their relationships with their daughters were exceptional; they […]
Historia interview: SG MacLean
To mark SG (Shona) MacLean’s new novel, The Winter List, being published, Historia spoke to her about returning to characters we thought we’d seen the last of, as well as how she goes about researching her novels and the importance of place. Shona also offered us some advice for new writers as well as a […]
Historia interview: Dan Jones
We’re delighted to welcome the historian Dan Jones to Historia to talk about his first novel, Essex Dogs, the Crécy campaign of 1346, and writing fiction. He also shares his top tip for new writers in this interview. You’re well known as the author of bestselling history books; why did you decide to start writing […]