I am a British crime writer and am the winner of the CWA Debut Dagger and have been longlisted for the CWA Gold Dagger. I have been reading crime thrillers for most of my life and while I love reading about cops and detectives, I seem to have a special liking for amateur detectives, criminals with good hearts, and ex-cons. In my own novels, two crime thrillers set in west London, my main character, Zaq Khan, is an ex-con who gets caught up in dangerous situations and, along with his best friend, tries to get out of them alive. The books I’ve recommended have all inspired and influenced what I write.
Edward Bunker didn’t just talk the talk, he walked the walk, spending over 25 years in prison for various crimes including armed robbery.
That experience of life in and out of prison meant he knew exactly what he was writing about and the authenticity drips from the page.
No Beast So Fierce is a blistering tale about an ex-con trying his damndest to go straight while the pull of the criminal life tugs harder and harder at him.
It captures that life in all its rawness and brutality. Not an easy read, it’s not for the faint-hearted.
Quentin Tarantino was such a fan of the book he gave Edward Bunker the role of Mr. Blue in his movie, Reservoir Dogs.
'No beast so fierce but knows some touch of pity' - Richard III, Act 1, Scene 2
An angry and mercilessly suspenseful novel about an ex-con's attempt to negotiate the "straight world" and his swan dive back into the paradoxical security of crime. It is airtight in its construction, almost photorealistic in its portrayal of L.A. lowlife and utterly knowledgeable about the terrors of liberty, the high of the quick score and the rage that makes the finger tighten on the trigger of the gun.
No Beast So Fierce was Eddie Bunker's debut novel and has the searing intensity of…
I have a Ph.D. in British history and have taught a variety of courses on the topic for the past 40 years. Since first visiting Scotland on a study tour in 1981, I have been to Britain and Ireland both multiple times and have spent extended periods of time there. From Shakespeare to the Beatles, from the Norman Conquest to the Second World War, from Roman Britain to Brexit, I have found each period of British and Irish history endlessly fascinating and sharing my passion with students and readers has been one of the great joys of my life.
Also published as Bosworth 1485: The Psychology of a Battle, this is one of my all-time favorite books on military history. Like Josephine Tey’s historical novel, The Daughter of Time, Jones challenges the Shakespearean and Tudor versions of Richard III’s reign.
Unlike Tey, Jones does not completely exonerate Richard for the murder of his nephews, but nor does he regard the future Henry VII in any more favorable of a light. What I liked best about this book is the way in which Jones humanizes the historical participants in the Wars of the Roses to a degree usually reserved for historical novels.
The reader will finish this book with a better understanding of the human factors, complexities, and contingencies of late medieval history—indeed of history in general.
On August 22, 1485, at Bosworth Field, Richard III fell, the Wars of the Roses ended, and the Tudor dynasty began. The clash is so significant because it marks the break between medieval and modern; yet how much do we really know about this historical landmark?
Michael Jones uses archival discoveries to show that Richard III's defeat was by no means inevitable and was achieved only through extraordinary chance. He relocates the battle away from the site recognized for more than 500 years. With startling detail of Henry Tudor's reliance on French mercenaries, plus a new account of the battle…
I write historical fiction some of which is set during the Wars of the Roses - a period that has always fascinated me. My two series, Rebels and Brothers & the Craft of Kings span the whole topic. But underlying the fiction there is a wealth of knowledge because I have studied or taught about this period for the best part of fifty years. I have also produced in recent years over forty podcasts on the subject which have been very well received by listeners – including students currently wrestling with the sometimes labyrinthine complexities of the topic.
There are so many books about these two boys that one could be forgiven for not reading any of them. But, if you are going to read one make it this one. Pollard knows what he is talking about because he has a background of authoritative historical study second to none. What you’ll find in this book is as near as anyone is going to get to a balanced account. Forget all the dark myths and whitewashes of Richard III and just read this book.
Richard III has divided opinion for over 500 years. Traditionally, he has been perceived as a villain, a bloody tyrant and the monstrous murderer of his innocent nephews. To others he was and remains a wronged victim who did his best for kingdom and family, a noble prince and enlightened statesman tragically slain. This work explores the story of Richard III and the tales that have been woven around the historic events, and discusses his life and reign and the disappearance of the princes in the tower. It also assesses the original sources upon which much of the "history" is…
Everybody
knows the name of Richard III, the short-lived king of England whose defeat ushered
in the Tudor dynasty. But the story everyone
knows and argues about is his time as king and the fate of the “princes in the
tower.”
Michael Hicks tells the story of
Richard’s life before he became king, his loyal support for his brother Edward
IV, the political scheming that made him the ruler of the north of England, and
his reforming zeal, which might have transformed the country had he lived.
Nothing like Shakespeare’s caricature
(written to please the Tudors!), Richard emerges as a complex and fundamentally
decent man of his time, whose story deserved this telling.
An "excellent new biography" (Keith Thomas, New York Review of Books) of the wily and formidable prince who unexpectedly became monarch-the most infamous king in British history
"An intricately detailed account of Richard's every recorded move on his journey from younger son of the powerful Duke of York to the last of England's mediaeval monarchs."-Mark Jones, Albion Magazine
The reign of Richard III, the last Yorkist king and the final monarch of the Plantagenet dynasty, marked a turning point in British history. But despite his lasting legacy, Richard only ruled as king for the final two years of his life.…
I have always been fascinated by the history of medicine, particularly the more macabre details. While researching my family lineage, I became especially interested in medieval medicine and the lives of English monarchs. I was honored to be asked to write a book on medicine in the middle ages, and I dove into the research head first. I have been lucky enough to write for several other publications, and I have self-published on Amazon. I enjoy writing historical fiction and my novel, Sleeping with the Impaler, was a book I truly enjoyed writing. I hope the books I recommended spark your interest as they will stay with me forever.
Matt Lewis is a brilliant historian and writer. This biography of Richard III is beautifully written. Matt takes us through Richard’s life from his time as a young boy to his death at Bosworth. Matt’s passion for this monarch is clear, and he makes a very strong case for why he believes the crown was stolen out from under him. Well done, Matt.
King Richard III remains one of the most controversial figures in British history. Matthew Lewis's new biography aims to become a definitive account by exploring what is known of his childhood and the impacts it had on his personality and view of the world. He would be cast into insecurity and exile only to become a royal prince before his tenth birthday.
As Richard spends his teenage years under the watchful gaze of his older brother, Edward IV, he is eventually placed in the household of their cousin, the Earl of Warwick, remembered as the Kingmaker; but as the relationship…
After enjoying Josephine Tey’s wonderful Daughter of Time, in which she exonerates Richard III from the crime of murdering the princes in the tower, followed by the Brother Cadfael mysteries, I became hooked on historical crimes and decided to try writing them myself! It was quite a challenge researching both the history and the settings from Australia, but the novels became a wonderful excuse for lengthy visits to travel around Great Britain and France. As well as writing the Janna Chronicles, my passion for history has also prompted several other published novels and series, including the Shalott trilogy.
Because my character Janna seeks refuge in an abbey while on her quest to find her father, I found it interesting and instructive to read about Abbess Helewise and life at Hawkenlye Abbey in more detail. I also enjoyed trying to second-guess whodunit as the Abbess and her helpmate, lord of the manor, Josse d’Acquin, solve the many crimes that come their way. And I was intrigued by the supernatural elements introduced by Alys Clare, with the abbey being situated so close to the ancient forest in the Great Weald, and how the two worlds often intertwine.
Shortly before his unexpected coronation, King Richard passed a law letting all of England's prisoners go free. Shortly afterwards a young nun is found, gruesomely murdered. Richard swiftly employs an old military colleague of his, Josse d'Acquin, to unravel this hideous mystery. Who could have wanted to kill this innocent young novice, and, more worryingly, why?
Josse goes to Hawkenlye Abbey to find out the answers to these questions. He is having little success until meets the Abbess Helewise, a woman who quickly proves herself to be his equal, both as an amateur sleuth, and as a figure the community…
I am a British writer/producer with a 30-year interest in Richard III (1452-1485). A visit to Bosworth Field, the penultimate battle of the Wars of the Roses changed my life irrevocably. This haunting place captured my imagination and with it the story of the last Plantagenet monarch who died fighting in this small corner of Leicestershire for crown and country.
Domenico Mancini was an Italian visitor to London in 1483 who witnessed Richard III’s rise from Protector to King, and wrote the only genuinely contemporary account. His short narrative, less than 7,000 words, is so important that it’s used and quoted by every commentator who has anything to say about Richard III. This translation renders Mancini up-to-date and accessible for today’s readers.
Annette Carson, a member of the team that found Richard III s grave, has produced this new edition of Mancini s important eyewitness report. Domenico Mancini was an Italian visitor to London in 1483 who witnessed Richard III s rise from Protector to King, and wrote the only genuinely contemporary account. His short narrative, less than 7,000 words, was originally published in the 1930s in an edition that, for modern historians, leaves much to be desired. The title and a number of key passages were mistranslated. In addition, Mancini s misunderstanding of England s laws and governance, and his omission…
The
Drift takes the classic trope of having what initially appear to be three very
distinct and separate stories gradually converge on each other and delivers a
masterclass on how to pull it off with style and aplomb.
The
phrase ‘page-turner’ is often bandied about, but I genuinely found I couldn’t
stop reading due to CJ Tudor’s effective use of short chapters and advancing
each of the stories in a rapid-fire round-robin manner. Each chapter ends with
a tantalizing hook that encourages you to push on until, finally, the pieces all
fall into place in a series of powerful but logical revelations.
The
Drift is only Tudor’s fifth book, but already, she has become one of only a
handful of authors that I make a point of picking up on release day.
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'The wildest thriller of the year is three thrillers in one. Buckle up' LINWOOD BARCLAY
'An exceptional thriller that blew me away with its original, high-octane plot, jaw-dropping twists and characters I cared about. When I wasn't reading The Drift I was thinking about it. A writer at the top of her game' CLAIRE DOUGLAS
'A truly terrifying, ice-cold chiller from the master of macabre. C.J. Tudor should be on everyone's must-read list' CHRIS WHITAKER
I majored in dramatic arts in college and later
became a professional actress. Though I haven’t acted in years, I wanted to
read this book because I’m a huge fan of the book’s author, the late Antony
Sher.
Antony Sher was one of the great English actors. As
a teenager, Antony left his home in South Africa to try his luck as an actor in
England. Though he failed to be accepted to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts,
he gradually learned the art of being an actor, became a leading player with
the Royal Shakespeare Company, and was given a knighthood.
Success didn’t come easily or quickly. Sher
struggled with being an outsider: a South African, a Jew, and a gay man in
England. Most of all, he struggled with self-doubt that plagued him his entire
life. The book recounts in great part his detailed crafting of his first…
Anthony Sher's mesmerizing performance as Richard III, for which he won the Standard Award for Best Actor of 1985, was warmly received by both critics and audiences. This book records the making of this historic theatrical event. It follows the events of a year in the life of Anthony Sher, both as the character and himself. The text is interspersed with the author's own personal sketches.
Madina Papadopoulos is a New Orleans-born, New York-based freelance writer and author. She is currently working on the sequel to The Step-Spinsters, the first in the Unspun Fairytale series, which retells classic princess stories set in the late Middle Ages. She studied French and Italian at Tulane University and received her MFA in screenwriting at UCLA. After teaching foreign languages at the university level, as well as in childhood and elementary school programs, she developed and illustrated foreign language coloring workbooks for preschoolers. As a freelance writer, she focuses on food, drinks, and entertainment.
It’s often said that the golden rule for storytelling is “thou shalt not bore.” While as a history buff, I get a kick out of historical fiction even when it might read more non-fiction than fiction, the genre risks falling prey to having to balance fact over fun. This is not the case with esteemed historical fiction author, Philippa Gregory. For those who like their history with a touch of steam and can forgive historical “embellishments,” Gregory delivers heavily researched stories that put character arcs and plot twists front and center. These tempting books follow the women in power behind the scenes of the War of the Roses. As a prolific writer, Gregory bestows upon us a bounty of six books in this series, carrying the reader on more of a year abroad than just a quick vacation.
The inspiration for the critically acclaimed Starz miniseries The White Queen, #1 New York Times bestselling author Philippa Gregory brings to life the extraordinary story of Elizabeth Woodville, a woman who rises from obscurity to become Queen of England, and changes the course of history forever.
Elizabeth Woodville is a woman of extraordinary beauty and ambition. Her mother is Jacquetta, also known as the mystical lady of the rivers, and she is even more determined to bring power and wealth to the family line. While riding in the woods one day, Elizabeth captures the attentions of the newly crowned King…
