The past is never dead, it isn’t even past
David Cairns’ latest novel The Case of Emigrant Niece is bursting with mystery, action, and adventure told through the eyes of protagonist Major Findo Gask. This novel dives into the changing world of the nineteenth century of upheaval, exploration and war filled with...
The novel centres around the gold rush era in Australia – what inspired you to write about this time period? My first novel came about because I was researching my Australian wife’s forbears who were transported to Van Diemen’s Land in the 1830s. Once they had served...
Charles Dickens and Charity: The most perplexing female I have ever encountered… In the research for my novels featuring Dickens as an amateur detective, I frequently turn to the Pilgrim Edition of the letters. The footnotes provide all kinds of fascinating detail for...
It is hard today to come to terms with the speed of communication that existed some 150 years ago. In an age where instant video conferencing is available to all it can bring some of my readers up short when I tell them that even 50 or 60 years ago to speak to...
David O. Stewart revisits Washington’s political career with two objectives. Half his book examines his subject’s personal and political development before 1775 to show how Washington developed impressive political skills and a clear political agenda. Although most of...
It was General Eyre Coote, an interesting man whose career came to an unfortunate end who coined the phrase “A Wandering Army”. The title presents us with the notion of The British Military Enlightenment in the 18th and early 19th centuries that was developed during...
Early in Richard Cohen’s excellent Making History he quotes his distinguished predecessor, the late John Burrow: ‘Almost all historians … have some characteristic weakness … It is often the source of their most interesting writing’. Cohen’s weaknesses are for story,...
Your book opens with the Battle of Fontenoy in 1745 when the British, despite superiority of firepower, were defeated by Saxe’s use of the terrain and positioning of his forces. The use of topography by senior officers would seem to be rather an obvious ‘innovation’ –...
Books of 2021 from Aspects of HistoryTimothy Ashby Author of Elizabethan Secret AgentAt the top of my favourites list of recent historical books is Leanda de Lisle´s Henrietta Maria. Although non-fiction, the book reads like a historical novel, with fascinating...
A play within a play. A nod towards music hall theatre. A Wilde evening, with a subtle and suitable amount of smut. The Canterville Ghost is the perfect tonic for cheering up an audience which may be as gloomy as the weather at the moment (especially those who have...
