As the United States sets its sights on expansion, James Burke, part spy, part diplomat, is sent to gather crucial intelligence and navigate the treacherous political landscape. His journey takes him from the tribal homes of the Shawnee people to the heart of Washington in the run-up to open conflict along the Canada-US border. When […]
The War of 1812: unexpectedly relevant
When Tom Williams decided to send his soldier/spy James Burke to North America for his next book, he wondered how European readers would respond to a rather obscure war that took place across the Atlantic while Napoleon was capturing most people’s attention. But as he was writing Burke and the War of 1812, that conflict […]
Burke and the Lines of Torres Vedras by Tom Williams
In 1810 Wellington needs to protect his army against Napoleon’s stronger forces in the Peninsula. His answer? The Lines of Torres Vedras: one of the greatest defensive works the world has ever seen. But for his strategy to work, the Lines must stay a secret until the French arrive. Fresh from a successful mission in […]
Wellington’s biggest Peninsular War secret
Tom Williams writes about the Lines of Torres Vedras in Portugal, Wellington’s biggest secret (in terms of size, anyway) during the Peninsular War against Napoleon. Today (7 April) sees the publication of the latest of my stories about Napoleonic-era spy, James Burke. Burke and the Lines of Torres Vedras is set in Portugal in 1810. […]
Review: Sherlock Holmes and the Rosetta Stone Mystery by Linda Stratmann
Sherlock Holmes and the Rosetta Stone Mystery is the first of Linda Stratmann‘s novels following the consulting detective in the making. Tom Williams, author of the Napoleonic era-set James Burke adventures and the darker John Williamson books, finds it “rather wonderful”. The world is full of Sherlock Holmes pastiches. Most of them, to be honest, […]
Burke and the Pimpernel Affair by Tom Williams
It’s 1809, and when a mission running agents into Napoleon’s France goes horribly wrong, it’s up to Burke to save the day. With the French secret police on his trail, can he stay alive long enough to free British spies from imprisonment in the centre of Paris? And how does the Empress Josephine fit into […]
Cawnpore by Tom Williams
In 1857 John Williamson, a gay man from a humble background, does not fit in amongst the British rulers of India. When mutiny erupts he finds his loyalties torn between the Europeans he despises and the Indians he loves. How can he be true to himself and still survive the massacre that will follow the […]
The White Rajah by Tom Williams
When James Brooke arrives in Borneo on the schooner ‘Royalist’, he plans to make a quick profit trading with the natives. Instead he finds himself taking sides in a civil war. And when his side wins, he ends up the ruler of his own country. As the first White Rajah of Sarawak, Brooke is determined […]