The past is never dead, it isn’t even past
I don’t know about you, but I’m fascinated by history as much for what we think we know as I am for what we know we don’t know. For me, it’s where (un)knowns overlap that historical fiction comes alive. My recently-released novel, Between the Clouds and the River,...
Jack Bowsher has set out in this book – his first – to reprise the role of armour in the Burma campaign. He has achieved much more, however, as this excellent book is an accessible study of the campaign as a whole. It has much to recommend it. The fruit of lots of...
Blithe and Spirited The run is as short as Labour's honeymoon period so head over to Ealing's The Questors Theatre to catch their production of Noel Coward's Blithe Spirit as soon as you can. In one sense the play is a ghost story, but one which is played for laughs...
Roy Farran: Rogue Hero Roy Farran was one of the outstanding British soldiers of the Second World War. He was awarded a Distinguished Service Order and three Military Crosses while serving with the Royal Armoured Corps and the Special Air Service but he never rose...
The House of Windsor in the Modern World It transpires that prior to her death, our late Queen had been ill for some time. Bone marrow cancer by all accounts. The end is rarely easy irrespective of privilege and position; even divine right and executive religious...
Jack Bowsher, many congrats on your new book. As the title suggests, the Far East campaign is not particularly well-known for tanks. Why is that? Thank you! Yes, tanks are definitely not the first thing that comes to mind when you think of the Burma Campaign! There...
Tim Spicer, many congratulations on the new book. What sort of man was Wilfred ‘Biffy’ Dunderdale? Suave, sophisticated, multi-lingual, highly intelligent, charming but with a core of steel. You mention he was suave and sophisticated but also ruthless. He...
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...
