Tom Williams considers whether historical fiction could be the most effective way to engage people in re-examining the history of the British Empire. September brought the re-publication of my novel Cawnpore, set during the events of 1857 known variously as the Indian Mutiny, the First Indian War of Independence, and the Indian Rebellion. (That’s far […]
The winners! The HWA Crown Awards 2021
We’re thrilled to announce the winners of the 2021 HWA Crown Awards, celebrating the best historical writing of the year, fiction and non-fiction! Like all books submitted for this year’s prizes, they were published in the year between April 2020 and March 2021, the height of lockdown, so we’d like to express our admiration for […]
Historia giveaway! HWA Debut Crown Award 2021 shortlist
Historia’s running three HWA Crowns giveaways to celebrate the books shortlisted for the 2021 Crown Awards. The first is for all six books on the Debut Crown shortlist. (The Crown Awards winners will be announced on 24 November at 11am on our YouTube channel. You’ll also be able to find out who’s won just after […]
The Crystal Crypt by Fiona Veitch Smith
“But accidents can still happen… Perhaps there was something out of her control, something she couldn’t have foreseen…” “Like someone plotting to kill her?” Reporter sleuth Poppy Denby is asked to investigate the mysterious death of an up-and-coming female scientist in an Oxford laboratory known as the Crystal Crypt. The official verdict is that Dr […]
Imagining Somerville: a research mystery
You have the perfect location for your next book, but it’s not open to the public. Never mind, you’re going to an event there – and then the Covid lockdown happens. How are you going to research it now? This was the puzzle Fiona Veitch Smith faced while writing her latest Poppy Denby mystery, set […]
Historia interviews, 2021 Crown Awards shortlists: Mick Finlay
Mick Finlay talks to Historia for the second in our series of interviews with authors whose books have been shortlisted for HWA Crown Awards. Mick’s novel, Arrowood and the Thames Corpses, follows the investigations of William Arrowood and Norman Barnett, private inquiry agents in London who get the cases – and clients – that aren’t […]
Commander by Paul Fraser Collard
Egypt, 1869. Jack Lark has reinvented himself once more. Working as an unofficial agent for the Consul-General, he moves among the most powerful men in Cairo. But when the opportunity arises to join legendary explorer Sir Samuel White Baker on his expedition into the Sudan, Jack can’t resist a new adventure. Jack assumes command of […]
The Drowned City by KJ Maitland
1606. England stands divided in the wake of the failed Gunpowder Plot. As a devastating tidal wave sweeps the Bristol Channel, rumours of new treachery reach the King. In Newgate prison, Daniel Pursglove receives an unexpected – and dangerous – offer. Charles FitzAlan, close confidant of King James, will grant his freedom – if Daniel […]