Wellington and the Coronation: then and now
On Sunday we dropped in for a quick visit to Apsley House on our way to dance at the Argentine Ambassador's Residence (as you do). Someone at English Heritage had said that we had to see the Duke's robes, which were on display there and which had been worn at...
Researching a ride across the Andes
What was the toughest research I’ve ever done for a book. I’m going to go for ‘Most likely to have you freeze to death in a snowstorm while sheltering in an unheated stone hut 3,000 metres up the Andes.’ It’s a good story and every so often I try to interest people in it and they completely blank me. Perhaps they think I’m making it up. But, anyway, here goes again.
The Illusions: Liz Hyder
When I read that The Illusions is a historical novel (it’s set at the end of the 19th century) that combines a story about stage magicians with supernatural elements about people playing with actual magic, I couldn't resist it. That's the central idea in my own...
Tyntesfield: made for photographing
Last week I spent an afternoon at Tyntesfield. It's a National Trust property near Bath. It was bought in 1844, by William Gibbs, a merchant who had made a vast fortune out of guano. The idea of using bird droppings for fertiliser was new at the time. It...
From Congress of Vienna to the dance halls of Buenos Aires
I was at a party this weekend given by a tango friend. Some of the people there had vast experience of lots of different dance forms, so the conversation turned to dance history. I was talking to somebody who was very into 18th and 19th century dance and he was...
Sidekicks
I grew up on adventure stories where many of the heroes were helped by loyal sidekicks. Biggles had Algy; Sherlock Holmes, Watson; the Lone Ranger, Tonto. Back then, before the darker Batman of today, Robin was simply his trusty sidekick. Until I started writing my...
The Silk Code: Deborah Swift
Another Tuesday, another review of a book by Deborah Swift. One of the things that really impresses me about Swift’s writing is her ability to move, apparently effortlessly, between different historical settings. Last week I was reviewing her 17th century Italian...
Burke and the Lines of Torres Vedras
Today is the official publication day for Burke and the Lines of Torres Vedras. It's the seventh in the James Burke series. Lee Child says that it was the seventh Jack Reacher story that was his breakthrough novel, so I live in hope. The Lines of Torres Vedras were a...
The Fortune Keeper: Deborah Swift
I've got a new book out this week: Burke and the Lines of Torres Vedras. By now I'm getting a bit tired of talking about it (though I've forced myself to put a paragraph or two at the end of this post). I'd like to talk about a book by someone else. It's particularly...
The life and times of James Burke, spy
Burke and the Lines of Torres Vedras, the latest book in the James Burke series will be published on Kindle on 7 April and it is already available for pre-order. The paperback will be along soon. Somebody contacted me to ask how it fitted in with the others in the...