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The Writer and the Traitor

The Writer and the Traitor

As the Normandy landings approached, the surprise resignation from MI6 of the author Graham Greene – a close friend of Kim Philby – cast a shadow over one of the war’s most carefully orchestrated intelligence operations.
Robert Verkaik

As the clock ticked down to D-Day the atmosphere in the central London office of Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service, MI6, reached feverish anticipation. Years of carefully calibrated deception, casting spells over the German generals defending the landing grounds...

Michael Ridpath on Operation Berlin

Michael Ridpath on Operation Berlin

The bestselling author discusses 1930s Berlin and the first in his new series of post-WW1 historical fiction with Mark Ellis.

Congratulations on your new mystery novel Operation Berlin, Michael. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I have read several of your books. You started out with a series of financial thrillers, which I read and remember with pleasure, but I am less familiar with your more recent...

Johan Wennström

Johan Wennström

Dr. Johan Wennström is a research fellow at the Swedish Defence University and author of the forthcoming book The Stay Behinds: Sweden’s Cold War Guardians (Osprey/Bloomsbury 2026). He is also a researcher at Uppsala University. Previously, he spent nine years as a doctoral student and researcher at the Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN).
Johan Wennström

Books Click on any of the books covers below to either buy or get more information on Amazon Articles Click on the links below to read the full article [dpdfg_filtergrid custom_query="advanced" use_taxonomy_terms="on" multiple_taxonomies="name_of_author"...

Dance of the Earth, by Anna M Holmes

Dance of the Earth, by Anna M Holmes

The story of a foundling-turned-dancer and her twins spans decades and entwines art, identity and survival together into a rich work of historical fiction.
Lara Bentley

There are novels that inform you, and there are novels that transport you. Anna M Holmes's  Dance of the Earth does both with rare confidence, depositing the reader into the smoky gaslight of a Victorian music hall and then sweeping them forward, through the...

Dance of the Earth: An Interview with Anna M Holmes

Dance of the Earth: An Interview with Anna M Holmes

The novelist discusses how her book blends theatre, history and human resilience across art, war and societal change.
Anna M Holmes

Anna M Holmes – great to have the opportunity to chat about Dance of the Earth on behalf of Aspects of History. One of your characters, Rose begins life abandoned at a stage door – a very dramatic and symbolic entrance into the world of performance. What does it mean...

Death to Order: A Conversation with Simon Ball

Death to Order: A Conversation with Simon Ball

Assassination rarely achieves its aims, the academic maintains, but it endures as a useful tool to shape behaviour the international stage.
Simon Ball

Hello Simon. Your book, Death to Order, suggests that assassination is as much about signalling as it is about elimination. How important is the message sent by a killing compared to the actual removal of a target? It depends on the kind of assassination campaign. The...

Willie, Willie, Harry, Stee, by Charlie Higson

Willie, Willie, Harry, Stee, by Charlie Higson

A lively survey of English and British monarchs that combines humour with a broadly informative narrative of the nation’s past.

Whether you are interested in being introduced to British history, or you are familiar with it, Willie, Willie, Harry, Stee, will prove to be a find. Borne out of a successful podcast of the same name, Charlie Higson has written a book which entertains and educates in...

Andrew Taylor on A Schooling in Murder

Andrew Taylor on A Schooling in Murder

The author discusses the wartime setting, narrative choices and historical research behind his latest murder mystery.

Andrew Taylor, A Schooling in Murder, sees you revisit to the 20th century, the dying embers of WW2 and a rural setting. Give us a brief outline of your most recent book. It’s a Golden Age whodunit set in a third-rate girls’ boarding school in the closing months of...

A Woman Named Edith: Emigre, Photographer and Secret Agent – The Extraordinary Life of Edith Tudor Hart, by Daria Santini

A Woman Named Edith: Emigre, Photographer and Secret Agent – The Extraordinary Life of Edith Tudor Hart, by Daria Santini

A biography of Edith Tudor Hart that highlights her role in Soviet espionage while reassessing her life as a politically driven photographer.

There is something fitting in the idea of a photographer spy. Both espionage and photography require close attention to detail, an awareness of perspective, and an ability to manipulate reality. Sometimes, usefully, the activities overlap. Perhaps the most influential...