Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve always been fascinated by history, and the time immediately preceding the Second World War is one of the most interesting. How inevitable was the tragedy that unfolded in Germany, Europe, and then around the globe? I was drawn to it after the 2008 economic crash, and the parallels of economic hardship and the resurgence in populist nationalism. I’ve read all that history in an attempt to learn from it, and I hope that some of that comes through in The Fulcrum Files.


I wrote

The Fulcrum Files

By Mark Chisnell,

Book cover of The Fulcrum Files

What is my book about?

On the 7th March 1936, after almost two decades of peace in Europe, Hitler ordered the German Army back into…

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of Early One Morning

Mark Chisnell Why did I love this book?

The key to a successful historical thriller is a strong sense of time and place, but not so strong that it slows down the plot – it’s still a thriller after all, and while it’s so tempting to find somewhere to put all that research, discipline is essential. I loved this book because Robert Ryan does it particularly well. I took a lot from it for The Fulcrum Files, particularly the mix of action and romance and the basis in real events.

By Robert Ryan,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Early One Morning as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In the flamboyant 20s, Englishman William Grover-Williams and Frenchman Robert Benoist were fierce rivals racing their elegant Bugattis on the glittering European race circuits. Not only is the World Championship in their sights, but they have both fallen for the sensuous charms of the extravagantly beautiful Eve Aubicq. But when war breaks out, both are signed up by Special Operations Executive for missions behind enemy lines in France, one of which includes investigating rumours of the manufacture of the lethal gas Zyklon B and how it is being used by the Germans. In a series of daring sabotages and assassinations,…


Book cover of March Violets

Mark Chisnell Why did I love this book?

This book is part of the Berlin Noir series featuring former Berlin cop and private eye, Bernie Gunther. It’s a great mystery thriller leaning on the wonderful American tradition of pulp noir. Set in pre-War Berlin, I loved the sense of place, dark foreboding, and the humour – something I’d love to inject more of into my own books.

By Philip Kerr,

Why should I read it?

6 authors picked March Violets as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Discover the first crime novel in the late Philip Kerr's Bernie Gunther series - Berlin Noir - set in Hitler's Germany during the 1930s . . .

Winter, 1936. A man and his wife shot dead in their bed, their home burned. The woman's father, a millionaire industrialist, wants justice - and the priceless diamonds that disappeared along with his daughter's life. He turns to Bernhard Gunther, a private eye and former cop.

As Bernie follows the trail into the very heart of Nazi Germany, he's forced to confront a horrifying conspiracy. A trail that ends in the hell that…


Book cover of Dark Star

Mark Chisnell Why did I love this book?

Alan Furst specialises in thrillers set in pre-War Europe with all the moral ambiguity of that time. I loved that aspect of this book, and I wanted to capture some of that in The Fulcrum Files; the idea that the horrors to come were not as inevitable as they now seem.

By Alan Furst,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Dark Star as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Andre Szara, survivor of the Polish pogroms and the Russian civil wars, is a journalist working for Pravda in 1937. War in Europe is already underway and Szara is co-opted to join the NKVD, the Soviet secret intelligence agency. He does his best to survive the tango of pre-war politics by calmly obeying orders and keeping his nose clean. But when he is sent to retrieve a battered briefcase the plot thickens and is drawn into even more complex intrigues.

Szara becomes a full-time spymaster and as deputy director of a Paris network, he finds his own star rising when…


Book cover of Brighton Rock

Mark Chisnell Why did I love this book?

It’s not strictly historical fiction since it was published in 1938 and set in pre-War Brighton, nor does it deal with the coming War, since Greene couldn’t know about that at the time. However, anyone interested in this moment in history should read one of its best novels by one of the period’s greatest writers.

By Graham Greene,

Why should I read it?

5 authors picked Brighton Rock as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Pinkie Brown, a neurotic teenage gangster wielding a razor blade and a bottle of sulfuric acid, commits a brutal murder - but it does not go unnoticed. Rose, a naive young waitress at a rundown cafe, has the unwitting power to destroy his crucial alibi, and Ida Arnold, a woman bursting with easy certainties about what is right and wrong, has made it her mission to bring about justice and redemption.

Set among the seaside amusements and dilapidated boarding houses of Brighton's pre-war underworld, Brighton Rock by Graham Greene is both a gritty thriller and a study of a soul…


Book cover of Epitaph for a Spy

Mark Chisnell Why did I love this book?

Another book published in 1938, so it was written in the period. It’s argued that Ambler created the mould for modern thrillers, so it’s another essential stop for anyone interested in pre-War spy fiction. I loved the fact that the hero is an amateur in this story, something that I took into The Fulcrum Files

By Eric Ambler,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Epitaph for a Spy as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Josef Vadassy, a Hungarian refugee and language teacher living in France, is enjoying his first break for years in a small hotel on the Riviera. But when he takes his holiday photographs to be developed at a local chemists, he suddenly finds himself mistaken for a Gestapo agent and a charge of espionage is levelled at him. To prove himself innocent to the French police, he must discover which one of his fellow guests at his pension is the real spy. As he desperately tries to uncover the true culprit's identity, Vadassy must risk his job, his safety and everything…


Explore my book 😀

The Fulcrum Files

By Mark Chisnell,

Book cover of The Fulcrum Files

What is my book about?

On the 7th March 1936, after almost two decades of peace in Europe, Hitler ordered the German Army back into the Rhineland. It was a direct challenge to Britain and France. Still unnerved by the toll of the Great War, the politicians dithered. The French Army stayed in its barracks, while the aristocratic British elite looked on from their country retreats. History teetered on a knife edge, but the spymasters were busy.

Just one man could make the difference between war and peace, victory or defeat. And that man was Ben Clayton. Thrown into the maelstrom of plot and counter-plot, into a world of murder, spies, and traitors, Ben must battle not just to survive, but to protect all that he loves and holds most dear.

Book cover of Early One Morning
Book cover of March Violets
Book cover of Dark Star

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Book cover of Draakensky: A Supernatural Tale of Magick and Romance

Paula Cappa Author Of Draakensky: A Supernatural Tale of Magick and Romance

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What is my book about?

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