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I’m Spartacus! Slave revolts in Rome

7 November 2021 By Harry Sidebottom

Harry Sidebottom’s latest novel, The Burning Road, is set in Sicily during a revolt of enslaved people against the Roman Empire. He wonders why there were so few such uprisings during the many centuries of Roman rule – and why we’ve only heard of the one led by Spartacus. “I am Spartacus!” At first in […]

Reassessing Francis Drake: what research for my novel revealed about his role in the slave trade

22 June 2020 By Nikki Marmery

Author Nikki Marmery tells Historia about how researching her recently-published novel about the African woman known as Maria showed her the extent of Francis Drake’s involvement in the slave trade. When I started writing On Wilder Seas eight years ago, I wanted to counter the hero narrative surrounding Francis Drake, which persists despite his background […]

A respectable trade in brutality: Blood & Sugar

18 February 2019 By Laura Shepherd-Robinson

The slave ship Zong by Turner

Laura Shepherd-Robinson tells Historia how a shameful period in Britain’s history spurred her to write Blood & Sugar.

Review: The Long Song

19 December 2018 By Laura Shepherd-Robinson

The Long Song, (BBC1, 9pm) is an adaptation of Andrea Levy’s Man Booker shortlisted novel and tells the story of July, a slave growing up on a Jamaican plantation in the dying days of slavery. The first episode takes place against the backdrop of the ‘Baptist War’, or ‘Christmas Rebellion’, a slave revolt that increased […]

Writers’ Rights and Human Rights

9 July 2018 By Lydia Syson

Lydia Syson on Pacific slavery, and a writer’s responsibility to tell our hidden histories. “Sometimes how one frames a story determines whether or not we will see the fullness of a character.” Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, on Guardian webchat I didn’t set out to write a novel ‘about’ slavery. Or indeed to ‘dip my pen in […]

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Widows of the Ice by Anne Fletcher

15 May 2022

Privilege by Guinevere Glasfurd

12 May 2022

The Fallen Sword by AJ Mackenzie

12 May 2022

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Editor’s Picks

Building better humans? Eugenics and history

1 September 2021

Historia Q&A: Rachel Hore

3 April 2018

Historia Interviews: Tom Williams and Paul Fraser Collard

13 December 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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ISSN 2515-2254

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  • Widows of the Ice by Anne Fletcher
  • Privilege by Guinevere Glasfurd
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