Harini Nagendra’s The Bangalore Detectives Club is set in 1920s colonial Bangalore, where Kaveri, a budding mathematician, stumbles upon a body at an elite event and is pulled into solving a crime, while exploring the city’s bungalows, brothels and bylanes. Harini tells Historia how hard it was to uncover the diverse voices of Indian residents, […]
The Bangalore Detectives Club by Harini Nagendra
When clever, headstrong Kaveri moves to Bangalore to marry doctor Ramu, she’s resigned herself to a quiet life. But that all changes the night of the party at the Century Club, where she escapes to the garden for some peace – and instead spots an uninvited guest in the shadows. Half an hour later, the […]
Fortune’s Heir by Alex Rutherford
In his Himalayan retreat of Glenmire, Nicholas Ballantyne is determined his days of bloodshed and intrigue in the service of the British East India Company are over. Yet the Battle of Plassey, where he fought with Robert Clive, has delivered only a short-lived peace and the 1770s are precarious times in India. Martial Marathas, formidable […]
Historical books to look out for in 2022
Our popular annual list of books to look out for during the year is back for 2022, with history, biography and historical fiction. Here are books to read from HWA authors covering eras from Ancient Rome to the 1980s and sweeping across continents from China to Russia and India, the USA to Australia and the […]
Christmas reading 2021 – the best historical books
We asked eight authors to each recommend a historical book they’d love to receive for Christmas 2021, and one they would give as a Christmas gift. They include many of the best books published this year. We hope these suggestions inspire you, whether you’re looking for ideas for presents or planning to curl up in […]
Cawnpore by Tom Williams
In 1857 John Williamson, a gay man from a humble background, does not fit in amongst the British rulers of India. When mutiny erupts he finds his loyalties torn between the Europeans he despises and the Indians he loves. How can he be true to himself and still survive the massacre that will follow the […]
The Long Journey Home by Cecily Blench
It’s 1941 and Kate is living in Rangoon, Burma, a world away from her traditional English upbringing. When she meets Edwin, a young teacher from London, she senses that he too is looking for a place to call home, and soon a friendship develops between them. As their bond grows, Kate begins to learn of […]
The wartime diary that led to my first novel
Cecily Blench’s grandmother didn’t think her stories of being a nurse in wartime Burma and India were unusual, but her granddaughter found them memorable. And when Cecily read her grandma’s 1944 diary she found more inspiration to begin her first novel, the prizewinning The Long Journey Home, which is published on 10 June. My grandmother, […]