Oath breaker is the second book in Staten’s Honour Bound trilogy, following on from Blood Debt, released earlier in 2024. Before I start, I should confess two things: first, that this era is an era that ranks among my favourites, meaning I am predisposed to enjoy...
Paul Bernardi
Episode 184
The Fateful Year: 1066
The Fateful Year: 1066 When William, Duke of Normandy, defeated King Harold II on Senlac ridge on that chill autumn day in October 1066, he must have hoped that the whole country would submit to him without further delay. But he soon found out that little had changed...
Fiction Book of the Month: Paul Bernardi on Blood Feud
Paul, many congratulations on Blood Feud. We’re now at the start of a new series with Blood Feud, it’s 1067 and so post Hastings. The Conqueror has been crowned. What was the state of the kingdom so soon after this seismic event in English history? Thanks. I’m not...
Fiction Book of the Month: Paul Bernardi on Thurkill’s Revenge
Paul Bernardi, this was your first novel - had you always planned for a trilogy or did the Thurkill's Revenge lead to the following two books? I think it was an idea that evolved over time. I studied this period at university and had always wanted to write about it....
Resistance to the Normans
Resistance to the Normans. You might be forgiven for thinking that the events of 1066 led to a simple shift in power from the old Anglo-Saxon era to that of the new Norman period. And, though it is true to say that a great number of the Anglo-Saxon nobility, warrior...
The White Ship, by Charles Spencer
‘No ship that ever sailed brought England such disaster.’ So said William of Malmesbury writing in the 12th century about the events of a freezing cold November night in 1120 which ultimately led to the destruction of Henry I’s carefully engineered legacy. It was true...
What is the Blood Price?
What’s Blood Price about? In short, it’s your classic murder mystery story. The sort of tale that is as old as the hills. The difference with this one is that it’s set in the pre-conquest England of King Knut – sometime around the 1020s. The story centres on a young...
Iron and Gold: An Aspects of History Short Story Collection
Iron & Gold is a distinctive collection of six short stories which span the Middle Ages. There is an overwhelming narrative of honour, integrity, love and timelessness which unite these tales. Additionally, there are interviews with each of the authors after each...
The Last Viking, by Don Hollway
Harald Hardrada is one of the characters from history who has always fascinated me. I mean, anyone who goes by the moniker ‘Hard Ruler’ must have something about them, right? For the purposes of full transparency, though, I should point out that he has an...