The past is never dead, it isn’t even past
1920 Odessa Ukraine. The Russian Civil War is at its height, a young British man working for Naval Intelligence picks up a report from one of his agents. The crew of the Russian submarine OUTKA are going to mutiny and throw their officers overboard. He leads a party...
On 29 September 1923, the Palestine Mandate became law and the British Empire reached what would prove to be its maximum territorial extent. It was now the largest empire in history, covering a quarter of the world’s land area and home to 460 million people. This was...
British Ballet Ever since I was a teenager training at The Royal Ballet School, I have been fascinated by dance history. Alongside daily ballet classes and academic lessons, we studied the development of ballet, how it emerged from the court dances of the Italian...
Matt, congratulations on your first novel. Why did you want to write this story? Thank you. There were a number of reasons. Firstly, I had long wanted to write a novel. My writing history has included journalism, poetry and short stories but never a novel. It felt...
This remarkable book is the product of many years of meticulous research and is so detailed and of such duration that its references are accessible via internet access. It is based on the notion that on 29 September 1923, the British Empire was at its most extensive,...
Alec Marsh, many congrats on the new book. This is your fourth Drabble & Harris thriller. What’s happened to our two heroes since Ghosts of the West? The big development is that Ernest Drabble has got married to Charlotte Moore whom he met in Ghosts of the West....
In the years just before the First World War, a boy was growing up in Imperial India. He was obstinate and full of life. Still a toddler, he chatted to the servants in Hindustani. His father nicknamed him Kim, after the spy hero of Rudyard Kipling’s novel, who could...
Adam Sisman, can you first tell us about the genesis of the book, The Secret Life of John le Carré? This shorter work serves as a coda to your full-length biography (although it can be read without being familiar with that work). When did you initially have the idea...
Historical Heroes: Alan Turing “It is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.” Winston Churchill’s speech on Russia, 1939 It was the first action in the war at sea. A few hours after the declaration of war between Germany, Britain and France, the German...
US Assassinations: The Security Failures The news that the Secret Service is under investigation by the Dept. of Homeland Security for lapses in security before, during and after the attempt on former President Trump’s life should not necessarily come as a surprise to...
