The past is never dead, it isn’t even past
Books of 2023 from Aspects of HistoryAlan Bardos Author of The Dardanelles ConspiracyMy book of the year is SAS Forged in Hell. The next instalment of Damien Lewis’ WW II odyssey with the men of 1 SAS, as they become the ‘tip of the spear’ in the invasion of Sicily...
Putin and the Old-Age Dilemmas of Russian Military Reform Ever since he first ascended to power, as acting president in 1999 and then elected in 2000, Vladimir Putin has made it clear that building a powerful military was not only one of his personal priorities but...
Richard, can you first tell us about the genesis of Turpin's Tales and why you decided to revisit the character? I wanted Dick Turpin to ride again. Turpin's Prize finished the series off nicely, but I had written a couple of Turpin short stories for other...
Royal yachts - like the word yacht in English - haven’t been with us forever. They both began during the English Civil War, and it was only when Charles II took to the sea himself - and loved it - that the whole business of royal yachts began. The first one was...
Leading historian of the French Revolution John Hardman provides a compelling new biography of Antoine Barnave, the influential statesman who advocated for a constitutional monarchy in early revolutionary France. Frequently described as being politically two-faced,...
Summer Reads from Sharpe BooksAlan Bardos Author of The Dardanelles ConspiracyThe Unseen Enemy by Tom Walker, is a perfect summer read invoking Sunday afternoons watching a black and white war film. Tom Walker effortlessly brings to life an RAF squadron in World War...
John Hardman, who was Antoine Barnave? Barnave (1761-93) was a young barrister from Grenoble who gained national recognition in 1788 with pamphlets attacking the government. At the age of 27 he was elected to the estates-general and played a prominent radical role...
James Davey’s fascinating Tempest is set against the backdrop of Britain’s naval war against Revolutionary France of 1793-1801. In the Age of Revolution, it did not escape those below decks that while their enemy espoused liberty and equality their own condition...
Summer Reads from Aspects of HistoryAlan Bardos Author of The Dardanelles ConspiracyQueen High by CJ Carey is the sequel to Widow Land and a counter factual/dystopian novel; in a similar vein to 1984, Fatherland and Brave New World. It is set in a 1950s Britain that...
“One name was whispered with admiration, one quiet voice seemed to cut through the religious frenzy with questions that demanded an answer: the voice of Voltaire” This fact-based novel stars Voltaire, the philosopher, Enlightenment writer, satirist and human rights...
