Tom Williams considers whether historical fiction could be the most effective way to engage people in re-examining the history of the British Empire. September brought the re-publication of my novel Cawnpore, set during the events of 1857 known variously as the Indian Mutiny, the First Indian War of Independence, and the Indian Rebellion. (That’s far […]
Non-Fiction Roundup
2015 is remarkable in being the anniversary of two of the most notable and evocative battles in English history – Agincourt and Waterloo. As it also eight hundred years since King John signed Magna Carta there has been a predictable flood of books covering all three of these topics. So it is a relief to […]
The Battle That Changed Britain
On 26 February, 1815, Napoleon, exiled after his defeat by the Allied powers, took ship from Elba. His flotilla of half-a-dozen small vessels was led by the 300-ton 16-gun Inconstant, painted to resemble an English ship. He slipped away while his British jailer, Col Sir Neil Campbell had taken a few days leave to socialise […]