It’s a busy time at the moment because I’m trying to think about three books at once. First up is The White Rajah, which is top of mind because it goes on sales tomorrow (Saturday) for just 99p. It will be on sale for one week, which gives everyone a chance to buy it ahead of the republication of Cawnpore on 10 September. Although the two books both stand alone, the story follows the adventures of John Williamson as he moves from Borneo in The White Rajah to India in Cawnpore. Obviously I’d love for you to read both of them and if you are going to do that, it makes sense to read The White Rajah first.
Since these books were first published, there has been a growth of interest in looking at Britain’s imperial past. The White Rajah and Cawnpore both look critically at what we now call ‘The Empire Project’. I think that perhaps their time has finally come. Certainly there has been a sudden resurgence of interest in British rule in Borneo with the release of the film Edge of the World this summer. I even got quoted in the Mirror talking about James Brooke, the eponymous White Rajah.
I’ve written a lot about The White Rajah here lately. I won’t repeat myself. Just go out and buy it.
I said three books. So what I am thinking about when I’m not worrying over the re-launch of my John Williamson books? Well, Burke fans will be pleased to know that the next Burke book, Burke and the Pimpernel Affair is now at the stage where draft copies are out for comment from beta readers and I hope that means you’ll all be able to read more of James Burke soon. Until then, I do hope you will enter John Williamson’s world. It’s dark and dangerous and it might make you look at some aspects of the British Empire with fresh eyes, but most of all I hope it will entertain.
The White Rajah is available on Kindle, in paperback and in hardback (because I think it’s worth it).
Cawnpore is now available to pre-order on Kindle: https://mybook.to/Cawnpore
