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A Time for Swords by Matthew Harffy

4 March 2021 By Editor

There had been portents – famine, whirlwinds, lightning from clear skies, serpents seen flying through the air. But when the raiders came, no one was prepared. They came from the North, their dragon-prowed longships gliding out of the dawn mist as they descended on the kingdom’s most sacred site. It is 8 June, AD793, and […]

Battling with history: how to write fight scenes and battles in historical fiction

4 March 2021 By Matthew Harffy

How do you write a battle scene which engages your readers and drives the story on? It’s a question many authors of historical fiction fight with. Matthew Harffy, well known for his action-filled Bernicia Chronicles series, gives Historia his advice. All good stories need conflict, and what better way to convey conflict than to have […]

A Time for Swords by Matthew Harffy

10 December 2020 By Editor

There had been portents – famine, whirlwinds, lightning from clear skies, serpents seen flying through the air. But when the raiders came, no one was prepared. They came from the North, their dragon-prowed longships gliding out of the dawn mist as they descended on the kingdom’s most sacred site. It is 8 June, AD 793, […]

Review: Warrior by Edoardo Albert with Paul Gething

8 December 2020 By Matthew Harffy

Matthew Harffy, author of the Bernicia Chronicles, is no stranger to the history of Bamburgh (once Bebbanburg) during the Anglo-Saxon period of English history. He reviews Edoardo Albert and Paul Gething’s latest book, Warrior, for Historia. The title of Warrior: A Life of War in Anglo-Saxon Britain by Edoardo Albert with Paul Gething might lead […]

Review: Fortress of Fury by Matthew Harffy

17 November 2020 By Edoardo Albert

Edoardo Albert reviews Fortress of Fury, the latest book in Matthew Harffy’s much-loved Bernicia Chronicles series set in the turbulent world of seventh-century England. The many readers who have accompanied Matthew Harffy’s seventh-century warrior hero, Beobrand, through his adventures in the previous six books in the series will be expecting taut adventure, bloody and brutal […]

Storm of Steel by Matthew Harffy

12 November 2020 By Editor

Heading south to lands he once considered his home, Beobrand is plunged into a dark world of piracy and slavery when an old friend enlists his help to recover a kidnapped girl. Embarking on the wind-tossed seas, Beobrand pursues his quarry with single-minded tenacity. But the Whale Road is never calm and his journey is […]

Fortress of Fury by Matthew Harffy

1 October 2020 By Editor

War hangs heavy in the hot summer air as Penda of Mercia and his allies march into the north. Caught unawares, the Bernician forces are besieged within the great fortress of Bebbanburg. It falls to Beobrand to mount the defence of the stronghold, but even while the battle rages, old and powerful enemies have mobilised […]

Bebbanburg 2020: the lessons I learned from a seventh-century siege

23 August 2020 By Matthew Harffy

Matthew Harffy, author of the Bernicia Chronicles novels, finds unexpected similarities between the seventh-century siege of Bebbanburg and his life in 2020, whether it’s coping with lockdown or making a television trailer. The world is under a cloud of sickness. People despair at ineffectual politicians as more of the global population fall ill and succumb […]

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Where are the Women? A Guide to an Imagined Scotland by Sara Sheridan

4 March 2021

A Burning Sea by Theodore Brun

4 March 2021

A Time for Swords by Matthew Harffy

4 March 2021

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Editor’s Picks

A game of gods: religion in a changing Roman world

10 December 2020

Historia Q&A: Matthew Harffy

16 May 2017

Desert Island Books: Sara Sheridan

31 October 2016

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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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  • Where are the Women? A Guide to an Imagined Scotland by Sara Sheridan
  • A Burning Sea by Theodore Brun
  • A Time for Swords by Matthew Harffy

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