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A different kind of WWII resistance

4 January 2021 By Deborah Swift

There were many ways to resist the Nazi regime. Deborah Swift tells Historia about a quiet, but very effective, form of resistance which she came across while researching her new book, The Lifeline, set in Norway and Shetland during the Second World War. I’ve always been interested in the French Resistance, but when I was […]

In search of the animals in the Great Fire of London

21 November 2019 By Deborah Swift

Deborah Swift came across an intriguing area of research when working on her latest novel based on the lives of the women who appear in Samuel Pepys’s Diary, Entertaining Mr Pepys, set in 1666. Among the records we have on the Great Fire of London, there’s one topic which was something of a beast to […]

And so to bed – a goodbye to Pepys’s diary

31 May 2019 By Deborah Swift

Exactly 350 years ago, on 31 May, 1669, Samuel Pepys stopped writing his diary and our intimate view of life in London in the 17th century was suddenly cut short, writes novelist Deborah Swift. She tells Historia what we’re missing as a result.

Luck or lottery? Choosing your valentine in the 17th century

13 February 2019 By Deborah Swift

Cornelis Bisschop - A Young Woman and a Cavalier

According to folklore, February is the time that birds begin to mate, and the first signs of Spring appear. As was normal in earlier periods, the arrival of Spring was expressed in terms of the feast-day of a saint; in this case, one of two early Roman martyrs, both named Valentinus, who died on 14 […]

Health and Hellfire: Personalising the Plague in 17th Century London

5 July 2018 By Deborah Swift

Deborah Swift explores how the plague was understood and treated in 17th century London. Today, people have widely variable responses to disease and its cure. I don’t think I’m alone in having friends who show hypochondriac tendencies, who use ‘alternative’ or even quack medicines, or who are convinced that a random event, real or supernatural, has […]

Animating Pepys’ Women

21 September 2017 By Deborah Swift

Four of my novels have been set in the seventeenth century, and for all of them I have used Pepys’ Diary as an integral part of my research process. In the process, I became fascinated by the women who appear as vague figures in the background, between the lines, always overshadowed by Pepys’ ebullient presence. […]

HNS Conference 2016

8 September 2016 By Deborah Swift

Deborah Swift reports on this year’s Historical Novel Society Conference in Oxford. This year’s Historical Novel Society Conference was held in Oxford, a beautiful and historic setting for what turned out to be a thought-provoking event for writers and readers of what has come to be labelled ‘historical fiction’. The conference itself was based in […]

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The Three Paradises by Robert Fabbri

7 January 2021

The Wolf Hunt by Tim Hodkinson

7 January 2021

A Remedy In Time by Jennifer Macaire

7 January 2021

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Editor’s Picks

Entrance to Auschwitz

Torn from home

27 January 2019

Mutiny on the Bounty

10 January 2018

Three White Pebbles

18 January 2017

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Historia Magazine is published by the Historical Writers’ Association. We are authors, publishers and agents of historical writing, both fiction and non-fiction. For information about membership and profiles of our member authors, please visit our website.

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