The past is never dead, it isn’t even past
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...
Annie Elliot – welcome to Aspects of History. What spurred you to write about Catherine Dickens? How did you first hear about her story? I read Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell and thought writing from the perspective of a famous man’s wife was a great idea. Charles Dickens...
Mythos: Ragnarök presents a unique and highly distinctive theatrical experience, combining Norse mythology with professional wrestling to create something entirely new and original. The production’s mix of mythology, comedy and physicality is unlike anything typically...
On 31st March 1875, Sergei Diaghilev was born into a wealthy Russian family. I salute the man who did so much to haul ballet into the 20th century. My historical novel, Dance of the Earth, spanning 1875 – 1921, is largely set in London. During this tumultuous era,...
The world might have found it hard to believe. After 22 years of marriage and having made her pregnant at least 12 times, Dickens, aged 46, built a wall in their bedroom to keep his wife, Catherine, out, forced her to visit his 18-year-old mistress to quell rumours,...
In Carausius and Allectus, John Pitts sets out to bring the world of Roman Britain to life through a narrative that is clearly grounded in a strong interest in the period. The novel draws on real historical figures and events, using them as a framework for a story...
John Pitts – welcome to Aspects of History. Your book, Carausius and Allectus, is set amid uprisings in late Roman Britain. Talk us through how the idea for a novel came about? During the first Covid lockdown in 2020 I discovered a family history chart belonging to my...
Why did you choose the SOE as a subject for a novel?The SOE occupies a special niche in Second World history. How could it not? The brilliance of its founders who conceived and wrestled into it into being, its personnel, the agents and exploits, both successful and...
Books Click on any of the books covers below to either buy or get more information on AmazonArticles Click on the links below to read the full article[dpdfg_filtergrid custom_query="advanced" use_taxonomy_terms="on" multiple_taxonomies="name_of_author"...
"It is with heavy heart that I tell you we have to cease fighting. Last night, I asked our adversary whether he was prepared, between soldiers, after the struggle and in honour, to seek a way to end hostilities." These were the words of France’s new prime minister,...
