We asked nine well-loved authors to each recommend two historical books for Christmas 2022 to give, receive, or treat yourself with. These include many of the most absorbing books, fiction and non-fiction, published recently. We hope these suggestions inspire you. DV Bishop The Clockwork Girl by Anna Mazzola. A winter’s tale full of mystery and […]
From slave to queen: an extraordinary medieval woman
Among the powerful medieval women whose stories have — against all odds — survived the years, Balthild, the seventh-century Neustrian queen, is one of the most extraordinary. A slave who became a queen and, later, a saint, she was an unexpected source of inspiration for Matthew Harffy’s latest Bernician Chronicles story, Forest of Foes. The […]
Historia giveaway: the 2022 HWA Non-fiction Crown shortlist
This month we’re giving away all six books shortlisted for the 2022 HWA Non-fiction Crown Award. The giveaway is open until 11.59pm on Wednesday, 7 December, 2022. Just in time for an early Christmas present for you, or a friend (or five). The winner will get one copy of each of the following books: The […]
The winners! The HWA Crown Awards 2022
We’re delighted to announce the winners of the 2022 HWA Crown Awards, celebrating the best historical writing of the year, fiction and non-fiction! The winners of the Gold Crown for fiction, the Non-fiction Crown and the Debut Crown were revealed on Wednesday, 23 November at a packed party in a historic former church in London, […]
The Evolution of Charles Darwin by Diana Preston
When 22-year-old aspiring geologist Charles Darwin boarded HMS Beagle in 1831 with his microscopes and specimen bottles — invited by ship’s captain Robert FitzRoy, who wanted a travel companion at least as much as a ship’s naturalist — he hardly thought he was embarking on what would become perhaps the most important and epoch-changing voyage […]
My voyage discovering Charles Darwin
The historian Diana Preston travelled around the world to retrace Charles Darwin’s momentous voyage aboard the HMS Beagle for her new book, The Evolution of Charles Darwin. She tells Historia about her own voyage of discovery in his wake. After months of planning, I finally arrived on the densely-forested island of Chiloe, off Chile’s south-western […]
Historic Streets and Squares by Melanie Backe-Hansen
In this picturesque exploration of Britain’s constructed landscape, an array of medieval lanes, Georgian crescents and Victorian squares make an appearance, together with the people – famous, infamous and unfamiliar – who designed, built and lived in them. From Bedford Square and Portobello Road in London, through to Grey Street in Newcastle and Charlotte Square […]
Adding the ‘little’ bits to enrich a story of Saxon historical fiction
The stomach-growling smell of roast meat, the hit of mead, the arm-ache from embroidery; wind, rain, fruit in the hedgerows: details like these are the ‘little’ extras that add more period and atmosphere to your story, says MJ Porter, author of Anglo-Saxon period historical fiction. In Warrior of Mercia, the third book in the Eagle […]