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...
Cover reveal: Burke and the Lines of Torres Vedras
I’ve just finished the latest of my books about James Burke. It’s been over a year since the last one but I produced the second Galbraith & Pole fantasy novel in between. (If you haven’t read Galbraith & Pole yet, do give them a try. They will make you see...
Sneak preview of the next Burke book
Every so often I try to improve my mind (and maybe even my writing) by going to an online lecture. I went to one on audiobooks that explained how to make your own recordings. It was interesting and I did give it a go. It was fun and I ended up producing my very own...
The Gods of Tango: Carolina De Robertis
My blog is called History and Books and Dance and Stuff so a historical fiction book about tango ticks pretty well all the boxes. And The Gods of Tango has quite a lot of Stuff too. In fact it’s a vast, sprawling work about tango and Buenos Aires and Italy and...
Legacy: Chris Coppel
This is a straightforward supernatural horror story. It isn't the sort of thing I would usually read, but the author contacted me and asked if I might be interested in reviewing it. I read the first couple of pages and found myself immediately drawn into the tale, so...