AF: Historical Fiction and War

Their love transcends every boundary. Can it cheat death? Orphia dreams of something more than the warrior crafts she's been forced to learn. Hidden away on a far-flung island, her blood sings with poetry and her words can move flowers to bloom and forests...

In 1879 the redcoats of the British Army are universally regarded as the finest fighting force in the world. Among them is Lieutenant Simon Fonthill, dispatched to South Africa with much to prove: for Colonel Covington, his former Commanding Officer, has slanderously branded him...

'Bea treads carefully on the thick carpet, quite deliberately like a servant. Her elder sister, Clemmie, tells her that it is "not done" to worry about being heard but Bea enjoys this oh-so-silent rebellion against convention. She teases back, "This is the twentieth century,...

In 1872, Lislei, an Alsatian woman rescued from the bloody turmoil of the Paris Commune, and Kader, an Arab prince who has been captured during the revolt of the Sahara tribesmen against the French colonists, are both deported to New Caledonia. They succeed in...

January 1830, and one of the hardest winters in memory ...And the prime minister, the Iron Duke, is resisting growing calls for parliamentary reform, provoking scenes of violent unrest in the countryside. But there are no police outside London and most of the yeomanry...

From the author of The Ballad of Trenchmouth Taggart and set in the boom years of the West Virginia coal mining industry, this is an epic story of personal ambition, exile and return, and a grand heist. Keystone, West Virginia, 1910 In the hot...

Condemned to a hovel, beaten by a merciless commander, crushed by the weather and forced to survive on starvation rations: no one looking at Paul would ever guess that he is heir to one of Roman Britain's wealthiest families. But Paul had his reasons...

There was once no greater advocate for revolution than Michel Wéry. No voice spoke louder, was more impassioned, on the need for a new order, for an end to disparity and injustice - not just in France but throughout the continent. Strange, then, that...

A dark tale from Victorian London, of ghosts, the clang of prison gates, and what goes on behind closed doors—perfect for fans of Kate Atkinson, Sarah Waters, or Maggie O'Farrell It's 1899. London. A young girl is abandoned by her feckless family and finds lodging...

"A captivating tale of love and loss and finding connection in the most unexpected places" --Nikki Marmery, author of On Wilder SeasA lyrical and atmospheric homage to the strange and extraordinary, perfect for fans of Angela Carter and Erin Morgenstern.This is the story of The...

Sooner or later, history asks, which side were you on? In his powerful new novel, Charles Frazier returns to the time and place of Cold Mountain, vividly bringing to life the chaos and devastation of the Civil War Her marriage prospects limited, teenage Varina Howell agrees to...

St. Edward the Confessor, King of the English, is commonly despised by historians. He was the last of his dynasty, and after his death his country was conquered by foreigners—which was exactly what he wanted. In this chilling, fast-paced novel, the different customs, races,...

Previously published as ‘For Better For Worse’ A dramatic read from Sunday Times bestseller, Pam Weaver, filled with bigamy, scandal and friendships which bring hope in the darkness. The perfect read for fans of Katie Flynn and Maureen Lee. July 1948. As Britain recovers from...

Lovers. Lovers who meet at Civil Rights Conferences, sit-ins, church rallies, art galleries. Lovers who send letters back and forth from maximum security prison. Lovers with dislocated jaws. Lovers who lose themselves or shoot themselves. Lovers who let go too soon. Love that is...

Thomas Gage is a happy man. He has a fine house in Norfolk, two delightful children, a wife who brought with her a nice income from her father's paint firm, a Waterloo medal, and a painting on show at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition....

I'll not ask you to be mine . I will never seek to blunt the fury in you, never, and will honour your will as my own. What say you? Can you be a soldier's wife? New England, 1673. Martha Allen, a young woman...

The penultimate novel in the incredible Vespasian series Rome, AD 63. Vespasian has been made Governor of Africa. Nero, Rome's increasingly unpredictable Emperor, orders him to journey with his most trusted men to a far-flung empire in Africa to free 200 Roman citizens who...

From nineteenth-century Sweden to Renaissance Italy, Hansen weaves together exquisite stories in a searching and impressive enquiry into why things happen the way they do... Bolt has died and lies in his coffin reflecting on the past. An eccentric scientist, he devoted his life...

Following on the heels of his New York Times bestselling novel Telegraph Avenue, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Michael Chabon delivers another literary masterpiece: a novel of truth and lies, family legends, and existential adventure—and the forces that work to destroy us. In 1989, fresh from the publication of...

It is the turn of the century in the Clydeside town of Sandyford and the beginning of the golden age of the paddle-steamer.Sandyford is ‘home’ to Rose Gibb. Her return here is destined even during a short-lived career as a volunteer nurse during the...