The past is never dead, it isn’t even past
At various times during my Rebellion trilogy, castles play an important role in the narrative, not least the one built in the south east corner of York which we know today as St Clifford’s Tower. The castle would become a significant factor in the spread of Norman...
As I understand it, Blood Feud is the first book in your second trilogy (Rebellion). Set the scene for us. That’s right. We begin in a small village (Acum or Acomb as it is today) in the far north of England, situated close to Hadrian’s Wall and the River Tyne. The...
When studying Anglo-Saxon history at university, it often felt to me that (with apologies to East Anglia), Mercia was left holding the thin end of the wedge in terms of the big three kingdoms of the Heptarchy. With Northumbria to the north and Wessex to the south, it...
Let me begin, Rory, by offering my congratulations on the publication of Offa: King of the Mercians. A truly magnificent piece of work. The jacket notes refer to this book as a ‘breathtaking piece of historical investigation’ (with which I cannot argue); how would you...
First of all, Nicholas, congratulations on the publication of this endlessly fascinating and absorbing work. In the introduction, you describe the book as a fresh look at the subject rather than a rehash of your earlier work, Rome, Britain and the Anglo-Saxons, some...
Some historians have labelled it a ‘genocide’, whereas other have suggested that what King William I did in the north of England, in the winter of 1069/70, was not out of character with the standards of the time. But, whilst we should always try to avoid projecting...
So, Paul, The Reckoning is the third and final book in the Rebellion trilogy. Bring us up to date with where Thegn Oslac of Acum is now. Yes, it seems a long time since I started the first book, but we’re finally into the home straight now. After the failure of the...
The Other Conquest: England’s Forgotten King Though obviously not as well-known as the events of 1066, many people will have heard of King Knut (also rendered as Cnut or Canute), who became King of England in 1016, if only to the extent of knowing him to be the fellow...
Crusader, by Adam Staten Crusader is the third and final book in Staten’s Honour Bound trilogy, following on from Blood Debt and Oath Breaker, both of which were released in 2024 and both of which I reviewed for Aspects of History if you wish to go back to catch up on...
Those of you who have read Blood Feud (book 1 of my Rebellion trilogy (though keep an eye out for book 2: Uprising which should be launched in early 2025)), will be aware of Agatho, Thegn Oslac’s Frankish champion-cum-bodyguard and most loyal and deadly of his...
