I was very lucky that this book came out while working on my own sequels – mainly to ensure that I hadn’t made any terrible errors!
Decades in the making, this second part of David Carpenter’s monumental biography covers the latter years of Henry’s reign and the time of the Second Barons’ War, exactly the period described in my novels.
Carpenter writes with a light touch, an eye for colour and telling detail, and a sure ability to find the human story in the grand panorama of the past. He shows us not only the events of the era in unrivalled close focus but a compelling portrait of Henry himself, a very human monarch struggling through a turbulent age.
The second volume in the definitive history of Henry III's rule, covering the revolutionary events between 1258 and the king's death in 1272
After coming to the throne aged just nine, Henry III spent much of his reign peaceably. Conciliatory and deeply religious, he created a magnificent court, rebuilt Westminster Abbey, and invested in soft power. Then, in 1258, the king faced a great revolution. Led by Simon de Montfort, the uprising stripped him of his authority and brought decades of personal rule to a catastrophic end. In the brutal civil war that followed, the political community was torn apart…
I’ve been taking a break from the world of the later Roman Empire for a few years while I work on medieval stories instead, so it was refreshing to dip back into it with this new book.
Kate Cooper uses the lives of four women mentioned in Augustine’s Confessions as an aperture to view the era in which they lived. This sort of close focus on the experiences of individuals is what I love most in historical studies and mirrors the detailed character drawing I aim for in my novels.
Cooper isn’t afraid to work beyond the immediate boundaries of the historical evidence either, and the lives she presents here—from an empress to an enslaved child—are as compelling as anything found in fiction.
The vibrant and surprising lives of the women in Augustine's Confessions
While many know of Saint Augustine and his Confessions, few are aware of how his life and thought were influenced by women.
Queens of a Fallen World tells a story of betrayal, love, and ambition in the ancient world as seen through a woman's eyes. Historian Kate Cooper introduces us to four women whose hopes and plans collided in Augustine's early adulthood: his mother, Monnica of Thagaste; his lover; his fiancée; and Justina, the troubled empress of ancient Rome. Drawing upon their depictions…
The Viking and Anglo-Saxon age is very popular in historical fiction at the moment, but Matthew Harffy’s new novel, his best yet, takes us away from the familiar environment of north-eastern Europe to explore the world of al-Andalus—Muslim Spain—instead.
Through the eyes of Hunlaf and his crew, we get to journey through a fabulous and exotic landscape, but the momentum of the storytelling never flags. What I find most impressive is the way that Harffy uses a propulsive action-led plot as a vehicle to explore an amazingly rich and colourful historic environment and to portray a fascinating encounter between very different cultures.
Hunlaf battles peril and intrigue on a dangerous voyage to Muslim Spain.
AD 796. Sailing in search of an object of great power, Hunlaf and his comrades are far from home when they are caught up in a violent skirmish against pirates.
After the bloody onslaught, an encounter with ships from Islamic Spain soon sees them escorted under guard to the city of Qadis, one of the jewels of the Emirate of Al-Andalus and the true destination of their voyage.
Hunlaf believes the Emir's lands hold the key to his search, but there are dangerous games at play. To achieve…
1264, and England is on the brink of civil war. Adam de Norton, a young squire devoted to the virtues of chivalry, longs only to be knighted and to win back his father's lands.
Then a bloody hunting accident leaves him with a new master: the devilish Sir Robert de Dunstanville, who does not hesitate to use the blackest stratagems in pursuit of victory. Soon, both men must choose a side in a battle that will decide the fate of the kingdom.
Battle Song is a novel of friendship and chivalry, rivalry and rebellion, and the medieval world in all its colour and darkness.
