The past is never dead, it isn’t even past
Anywhere But The Western Front More than 100 years after the guns finally fell silent, our memory of the outbreak of the World War One is still firmly centered on what happened in Belgium and France. This is perhaps not surprising, as, in many ways, it was here that...
Gretchen, your book, The Treaty, dealt with the negotiations for the 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty. As an Australian who lives in Dublin, why did you want to write about them? The idea for the book came from a chance encounter in an archive. While I was studying for a...
Imagine driving along a quiet countryside road in England or Germany. It is a sunny day, and the surroundings are calm, with only the sound of the car’s engine, birdsong, and the occasional gust of wind. Then you see a detour near a town or in a remote area pointing...
Summer Reads from Aspects of HistoryLucy Ashe Author of The Sleeping BeautiesThe Eights is Joanna Miller’s debut novel that combines fascinating historical research with the creation of four compelling female characters, The Eights is set at St Hugh’s College, Oxford,...
This book is a marvellous read, emotional and yet educative, clearly the result of extensive research, and you have a particular interest in British and German history. But one wonders, what sparked the idea for such work? Thank you, that’s very kind of you to say!...
In the introduction to Lest We Forget, Tessa Dunlop writes: “Monuments and statues are inanimate, static entities that depend on their relationship with human beings for relevance and agency.” This statement goes to the heart of this brilliant book. Each monument is...
The Fires of Gallipoli explores resilience, self-discovery, fortitude and friendship during, and in the aftermath, of the Gallipoli Campaign. This book follows Edward Salter, a shy 25-year-old solicitor whose life is changed by the outbreak of the First World War and...
Barney Campbell, on The Fires of Gallipoli Barney, many congrats in the new novel. This is your second after the acclaimed Rain which was set during the conflict in Afghanistan. Now with The Fires of Gallipoli you’ve written about the Great War. This was a hugely...
Jim Loughran, what first attracted you to the 1930s and beyond? The 1930’s were a turning point. I think back to my own mother who was born in 1911 when the German, Austrian, Russian and Ottoman empires still stood. The Second World War created a definitive break with...
Gallipoli and the Death of Innocence in the First World War Much ink has been spilled over Gallipoli, the ill-fated attempt by British, Empire and French troops in 1915 to force the Dardanelles straits and so open up a route for the Royal Navy to enter the sea of...
