Winter 1917. As the First World War enters its most brutal phase, back home in England, everyone is seeking answers to the darkness that has seeped into their lives. At Blackwater Abbey, on an island off the Devon coast, Lord Highmount has arranged a spiritualist gathering to contact his two sons who were lost in […]
Historia Interviews: William Ryan
William Ryan on reading, writing and researching the Holocaust for his HWA Endeavour Ink Gold Crown shortlisted novel, The Constant Soldier. Your previous Captain Korolev novels have been very successful but you’ve moved away from historical crime with The Constant Soldier – why the change? Well, originally it was a crime novel – but it […]
History by the River September 2017
History by the River is a monthly panel event with a social buzz for lovers of books, history and good beer. It’s a chance to get together with fellow readers and authors to hear about the best new historical writing, then discuss it all over a drink afterwards. NB: you can’t actually see Tower Bridge […]
Unseen Auschwitz
William Ryan on the extraordinary photo album that inspired his novel, The Constant Soldier. The Constant Soldier is set at the end of World War 2 in a valley in what was then Nazi Germany, at a time when the war was lost. The novel, about a damaged German soldier seeking redemption, has its origins […]
History by the River May 2017
A New Series of Events in West London We’ve been working on something rather special for lovers of history and literature in London. William Ryan, one of the talents behind the highly successful First Monday Crime Series, along with Antonia Senior, Imogen Robertson and Anna Mazzola have been carefully researching venues and badgering best-selling authors […]