The past is never dead, it isn’t even past
In honour of Aspects of History launching its new podcast, Spymasters, I was asked to recommend five spy novels. I wouldn't say these are my definitive five favourite spy novels, as I could wake up tomorrow and recommend five others, but I hope that the choices give...
Well, I don’t know about you, but I thought Jack Miller and Sophia von Naundorf had made it through to peacetime at the end of Agent in Peril. Not a bit of it – they still have their most exciting and dangerous mission before them, and what could be their most...
Adam Staten, what first attracted you to the period or periods you work in? My first novel, Steadfast, was inspired by my experiences serving as a doctor on the front line in Afghanistan. I suppose the first germ of the story took hold whilst I was out there, but it...
I thoroughly enjoyed Rule Britannia, the first of a series of cracking historical thrillers set in the 1930s. It features an oddball couple of adventurers, Ernest Drabble, a Cambridge historian and mountaineer, and his old schoolfriend, Percival Harris, who is a Fleet...
How Decisive Was the Attack on Pearl Harbor? The Japanese surprise attack on Hawaii in 1941 achieved its initial goal of knocking out the US Pacific Fleet, but how decisive was it? Could the Pacific War have been ended before it even started? Japan’s objective behind...
Fiona Forsyth, you have moved on from the Lucius Sestius mysteries to a new series. How does it feel to say goodbye to characters like Lucius? When the story demands a certain resolution then it is easy to say goodbye. I’m not going to say I cried when killing off...
Within the pages of my latest book, set in the gritty backdrop of 1860s Melbourne, The Case of the Wandering Corpse, a thrilling tale unfolds as my protagonists Findo Gask and Erroll Rait confront an elusive organization known as Die Broederskap (The Broederbond)....
Alan, many congrats on embarking on your new novel, Rising Tide. We’re now in WW2, and Pearl Harbor after your earlier WW1 adventures. Why did you want to shift conflict? Thanks very much. In my previous First World War series I looked at how waging a quick decisive...
