1793 and James Burke is under cover in Ireland, spying on Irish Nationalists. His objective: to discover any plots to conspire with the French to bring down English rule in Dublin. Dublin is full of plotters. Finding them is easy. Staying alive is not as straightforward. A tale of spying, love and death against the […]
Why I wrote about Irish history
Tom Williams’s Burke series of novels set during the Napoleonic Wars takes the spy James Burke across continents as he pursues adventure, love – and the French. But when it came to sending his character, a historical figure born in Ireland, back to his native land, Tom found himself asking: why write about Irish history? […]
Review: The Lifeline by Deborah Swift
Tom Williams reviews The Lifeline by Deborah Swift, an adventure story with a dash of romance set in German-occupied Norway during a lesser-known episode of resistance to Nazi rule. Deborah Swift’s latest continues the Second World War theme of her latest books. We’re in German-occupied Norway in 1942. We are thrown into the action practically […]
Burke in the Peninsula by Tom Williams
Things getting a bit messy in Spain. Lots of irregulars. Civilians joining in the fighting. That sort of thing. Wellesley needs all the help he can get. They need a man who can pass for a Spaniard. Someone who can make himself useful with the irregulars. Someone who is prepared to fight dirty if it […]
When my Spanish research trip went astray
Even when a trip to research your book goes ridiculously wrong, it’s still worth taking. Tom Williams, author of the Burke series of adventures set in the early 19th century, looks back at one such trip – to Talavera, site of an important Peninsular War battle in 1809 – in the days when travelling for […]
Burke in the Land of Silver by Tom Williams
James Burke never set out to be a spy. But with Napoleon rampaging through Europe, the War Office needs agents and Burke isn’t given a choice. It’s no business for a gentleman, and disguising himself as a Buenos Aires leather merchant is a new low. Despite this, he falls in love with the country – […]
Review: The Lost Outlaw by Paul Fraser Collard
Jack Lark has fought for the British in Crimea and India. He’s fought alongside the French Foreign Legion at the battle of Solferino and on both sides in the American Civil War. Now, though, he is facing a personal crisis. After a bullet nearly ended his life in the Civil War, does he still have […]
Researching the Land of Silver
Tom Williams recalls his Argentinian adventures in the name of research. My first visit to Argentina was in 2003. I had been learning to dance tango in London and I decided I had to see how they danced in Buenos Aires. I completely fell in love with the place, so when I was looking for […]