The past is never dead, it isn’t even past
Jonestown: Paradise Undone “The first body I saw was off to the side, alone. Five more steps and I saw another and another and another; hundreds of bodies. The Newsweek reporter was walking around saying, “I don’t believe it, I don’t believe it.” Another guy said,...
Between the Clouds and the River is Dave Mason’s latest historical fiction, with a dual timeline narrative set between 1942 and 1965. Spanning continents and decades, this book is a sweeping and moving tale of life, love, loss and everything in between. In 1942,...
The True WWII Story of SAS Original Reg Seekings Reg Seekings intrigued me from the moment I stumbled on him during a spot of channel-hopping during one of the lockdowns. I had never encountered Seekings until I glanced archive footage of him in a BBC documentary....
Dave Mason on Between the Clouds and the River Dave, where did you get the idea of the story from? The initial spark for Between the Clouds and the River came from an account of a former German prisoner of war. Let’s just say that story immediately sent me down a...
Just over seven years ago, I wrote a letter to Tom Hanks. I’d recently finished reading Donald L. Miller’s seminal Eighth Air Force book, Masters of the Air. In it, Miller used excerpts from another book I was familiar with – The Mighty Men of the 381st: Heroes All,...
AoH Book Club: Gavin Mortimer on The Phoney Major Gavin, The Phoney Major changed the conversation when it comes to the founding of the SAS in 1941. How was the book received? I believe it wasn’t very well received in some quarters; not because what I...
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...
Even the most sketchily educated Briton today will nevertheless recognise in the murky depths of their consciousness the name of that great British general of World War Two, Montgomery of Alamein. To an older generation perhaps another name resonates equally and...
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...
