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Every week Tanzanite features upcoming historical fiction and history related non-fiction books that have come to her attention and may be of interest to others. Since she has an out of control TBR pile, so should everyone else!
The Wordsmith’s Tale by Stephen Edden. UK release June 10, 2011.
In 1087, Thomas the Piper sits down to recount the heartwarming, spell-binding hundred-year history of how his family of story-weaver and serfs has got by, against the odds. His young scribe - lovestruck and distracted - writes it all down. Several generations of this West Country family, from the reign of King Edgar to the Battle of Hastings, are linked by one recurring theme: the gift of storytelling, first found in Tom, the bard of King Edgar's court, whose love for Fleda saves her life and creates a legend in their son Bas, who gains a ferocious reputation as a warrior fighting the armies of King Cnut. Bas's son Harry, a storyteller like his aunt, passes the gift on to his own son Thomas, who is forced to make use of the first of three wishes endowed upon the wishing penny given to his grandfather by King Edgar. But will it save his family?
The Good Man’s Daughter by Roger Stokes. UK release July 1, 2011.
Set in medieval France after the bloody persecution of the Cathars by the Catholic church, The Good Man's Daughter is the story of Elouise and her love for the three men in her life; her father, Jean, a Cathar preacher; Michel, a shepherd and life long friend; and Guillaume, the young knight who becomes her lover. The story unfolds a generation after the destroying army has left the region and the few remaining Cathars are living in peace amongst the hills and valleys of the Languedoc. But their lives change when an evil priest begins a new campaign of persecution against the heretics. Jean is captured and imprisoned and Elouise must seek sanctuary at the Chateau Roc. Torn between her faith and her feelings she must decide whether survival is reason enough for living. As events lead to a dramatic climax at the Chateau the secret of the Cathar treasure is revealed. This debut novel by Roger Stokes is a masterful blend of authentic history and human drama, and will appeal to fans of historical fiction, such as Sarah Dunant's renaissance novels, who enjoy a great human story set against a background of dramatic and accurate historical events.
Sworn Sword by James Aitcheson. UK release August 4, 2011; US release September 27, 2011.
An ambitious young Norman soldier fights against desperate odds to consolidate the conquest of England in the years after the Battle of Hastings. Brilliant first novel in the mould of REQUIEM by Robyn Young.
But at Durham the Normans are ambushed in the streets by English rebels. In the battle that ensues, their army is slaughtered almost to a man. Badly wounded, Tancred barely escapes with his life. His lord is among those slain.
Soon the enemy are on the march, led by the dispossessed prince Eadgar, the last of the ancient Saxon line, who is determined to seize the realm he believes is his. Yet even as Tancred seeks vengeance for his lord’s murder, he finds himself caught up in secret dealings between a powerful Norman magnate and a shadow from the past.
As the Norman and English armies prepare to clash, Tancred begins to uncover a plot which harks back to the day of Hastings itself. A plot which, if allowed to succeed, threatens to undermine the entire Conquest. The fate of the Kingdom hangs in the balance.
Love and Death in Vienna by Bunny Paines-Clemes. UK release August 25, 2011.
He's been her obsession throughout her young life. Yet to seventeen-year-old Marie Vetsera, he is more than that - he is her destiny. But Crown Prince Rudolf of Austro-Hungary , heir to the throne, a man of the world, much older than Marie and disease-ravaged from his indiscriminate liaisons moves in the upper circles of society to which she, of minor aristocracy, can barely aspire.
Through sheer stubbornness, however and maybe a touch of the spoiled child who has always got everything she wanted - the girl succeeds in making a fateful meeting with him happen; an encounter that leads to a passionate, not-so-secret affair, one marked, on her side at least, by total adoration.
But all is not right in his world. There is a darker side to Rudolf's life, in which he ultimately sees only one way out. It is the only way that will ensure the lovers can be together forever.
By love united until death.
Through sheer stubbornness, however and maybe a touch of the spoiled child who has always got everything she wanted - the girl succeeds in making a fateful meeting with him happen; an encounter that leads to a passionate, not-so-secret affair, one marked, on her side at least, by total adoration.
But all is not right in his world. There is a darker side to Rudolf's life, in which he ultimately sees only one way out. It is the only way that will ensure the lovers can be together forever.
By love united until death.
Tower: An Epic History of the Tower of London by Nigel Jones. Non-fiction. UK release September 1, 2011.
A compelling narrative history of the Tower of London from William the Conqueror to the present day.
Castle, royal palace, prison, torture chamber, execution site, zoo, mint, treasure house, armoury, record office, observatory and the most visited tourist attraction in the country, the Tower of London has been all these things and more. No building in Britain has been more intimately involved in our island’s story than this mighty, brooding stronghold in the very heart of the capital, a place which has stood at the epicentre of dramatic, bloody and frequently cruel events for almost a thousand years.
Now historian Nigel Jones sets this dramatic story firmly in the context of national – and international – events. In a monumental history drawn from primary sources he pictures the Tower in its many changing moods and a bewildering array of functions. Here, for the first time, is a thematic portrayal of the Tower of London as more than an ancient structure.
The fortress is a living symbol of the nation itself in all its kaleidoscopic colour and rich diversity. Incorporating a dazzling panoply of political and social detail, Tower puts one of Britain’s most important buildings firmly at the heart of our national story.
The Elizabethans by A.N. Wilson. Non-fiction. UK release September 1, 2011
The acknowledged master of the all-encompassing single volume of history demonstrates the profound impact the Elizabethan age has had on contemporary Britain.
With all the panoramic sweep of his bestselling study of The Victorians, A. N. Wilson relates the exhilarating story of the Elizabethan Age. It was a time of exceptional creativity, wealth creation and political expansion. It was also a period of English history more remarkable than any other for the technicolour personalities of its leading participants.
Apart from the complex character of the Virgin Queen herself, we follow the stories of Francis Drake, a privateer who not only defeats the Armada, but who managed to circumnavigate the globe with a drunken, mutinous crew and without reliable navigational instruments. Then there were political intriguers like William Cecil and Francis Walsingham, so important to a monarch who often made a key strategy out of her indecisiveness.
Favourites like Leicester and Essex skated very close to the edge as far as Elizabeth's affections were concerned, and Essex made a big mistake when he led a rebellion against the crown.
With all the panoramic sweep of his bestselling study of The Victorians, A. N. Wilson relates the exhilarating story of the Elizabethan Age. It was a time of exceptional creativity, wealth creation and political expansion. It was also a period of English history more remarkable than any other for the technicolour personalities of its leading participants.
Apart from the complex character of the Virgin Queen herself, we follow the stories of Francis Drake, a privateer who not only defeats the Armada, but who managed to circumnavigate the globe with a drunken, mutinous crew and without reliable navigational instruments. Then there were political intriguers like William Cecil and Francis Walsingham, so important to a monarch who often made a key strategy out of her indecisiveness.
Favourites like Leicester and Essex skated very close to the edge as far as Elizabeth's affections were concerned, and Essex made a big mistake when he led a rebellion against the crown.
There was a Renaissance during this period in the world of words, which included the all-round hero and literary genius, Sir Philip Sidney, playwright-spy Christopher Marlowe and that 'myriad-minded man', William Shakespeare. Life in Elizabethan England could be very harsh. Plague swept the land. And the poor received little assistance from the State. Thumbscrews and the rack could be the grim prelude to the executioner's block.
But crucially, this was the age when modern Britain was born, when the country established independence from mainland Europe -- both in its resistance to Spanish and French incursions and in its declaration of independent religious liberty from the Pope. After Sir Walter Raleigh established the colony of Virginia, English was destined to become the language of the great globe itself, and the foundations were laid not only of later British imperial power but also of American domination of the world.
But crucially, this was the age when modern Britain was born, when the country established independence from mainland Europe -- both in its resistance to Spanish and French incursions and in its declaration of independent religious liberty from the Pope. After Sir Walter Raleigh established the colony of Virginia, English was destined to become the language of the great globe itself, and the foundations were laid not only of later British imperial power but also of American domination of the world.
Death of Kings by Bernard Cornwell. UK release September 29, 2011; US release January 17, 2012 (reposted with cover and US release date).
The master of historical fiction presents the iconic story of King Alfred and the making of a nation.As the ninth century wanes, England appears about to be plunged into chaos once more. For the Viking-raised but Saxon-born warrior, Uhtred, whose life seems to shadow the making of England, this presents him with difficult choices.
King Alfred is dying and his passing threatens the island of Britain to renewed warfare. Alfred wants his son, Edward, to succeed him but there are other Saxon claimants to the throne as well as ambitious pagan Vikings to the north.
Uhtred‘s loyalty – and his vows – were to Alfred, not to his son, and despite his long years of service to Alfred, he is still not committed to the Saxon cause. His own desire is to reclaim his long lost lands and castle to the north. But the challenge to him, as the king’s warrior, is that he knows that he will either be the means of making Alfred’s dream of a united and Christian England come to pass or be responsible for condemning it to oblivion.
This novel is a dramatic story of the power of tribal commitment and the terrible difficulties of divided loyalties. This is the making of England magnificently brought to life by the master of historical fiction.
Georgette Heyer by Jennifer Kloester. Non-fiction. UK release October 6, 2011. (Note: This isn’t historical fiction or history, but since it’s about a popular historical fiction author, I figured it was close enough to include!)
The definitive biography of one of Britain’s best-loved novelists.
Georgette Heyer’s first novel, The Black Moth, was written when she was just nineteen in order to amuse her convalescent brother. It was published in 1921 to instant success, and in the ninety years since then her work has been read and beloved by millions of readers and extolled by today’s bestselling authors, from writers of contemporary classics through to romantic comedies.
In Georgette Heyer, Biography of a Bestseller, Jennifer Kloester has written a meticulously researched, engaging and comprehensive portrait of the Queen of Regency Romance that will appeal to Georgette Heyer’s many fans and curious new readers alike.
Magnificent Obsession by Helen Rappaport. Non-fiction. UK release November 1, 2011.
When Queen Victoria’s husband, Prince Albert, died in December 1861 the nation was paralyzed with grief. He was only forty-two and official bulletins had, until the day before he died, given no cause for alarm. But in fact Albert had been in a progressive physical decline for years – worn out by overwork, stress and the exacting standards he set himself. His death was a catastrophe for the queen, who not only adored her husband but had, through twenty-one years of marriage, utterly relied on him: as companion, father of their children, friend, confidant, wise counsellor and unofficial private secretary. There was not a single aspect of public business on which she had not deferred to his advice and greater wisdom. She would even consult him on what bonnet to wear.
Britain had lost its king. For that is the role that Albert had performed in all but name. Politicians and the press agreed that his death was a national calamity. The public, totally unprepared, responded with a massive outpouring of grief. This royal death had a profound impact on Britain. Cast adrift and alone, the Queen donned the widow’s weeds that she would wear for forty years, till her own death in 1901. Her grieving was relentless. Without Albert to guide and support her, with a feckless heir who had caused her nothing but anxiety, and a family of nine children to parent alone, she retreated into a state of pathological grief which nobody could penetrate and few understood. Her stubborn refusal to return to public life rapidly began to alienate even her closest family and friends and to bring a resurgence of republicanism. There was even talk of abdication.
For the 150th anniversary of Albert’s death, this book examines the circumstances leading up to it, the ritual of his funeral and obsequies, and offers new theories on what killed him. It will describe the overwhelming despondency of a country plunged into mourning: bells tolling, shops shuttered up, everyone – no matter how poor – clad in black. Albert’s death and the Queen’s demand for the most rigorous observance of mourning, while precipitating months of anxiety about its effect on business, also fostered an explosion in the funeral trade and mourning ephemera. The Whitby jet trade went into overdrive to cope with the demand for black jewelry. Over the next ten years, the Queen’s single-handed mission to memorialize and commemorate her husband in perpetuity set in train plans for a range of artistic and cultural monuments that would transform the British landscape and set their visual stamp on the second half of her reign.
At the Mercy of the Queen by Anne Barnhill. US and UK release January 3, 2012.
Set in the court of Henry VIII, the book tells the story of Anne’s ancestor, Lady Margaret Shelton, one of three named mistresses of the king. “Pretty Madge” as she is called, is also first cousin to Queen Anne Boleyn, complicating everything.
The Visitor’s Companion to Tudor England by Suzannah Lipscomb. Non-fiction. UK release March 1, 2012.
For the armchair traveller or those looking for inspiration for a day out, The Visitor’s Companion to Tudor England takes you to palaces, castles, theatres and abbeys to uncover the stories behind Tudor England. Susannah Lipscomb visits over fifty Tudor places, from the famous palace at Hampton Court where dangerous court intrigue was rife, to less well-known houses, such as Anne Boleyn’s childhood home at Hever Castle or Tutbury Castle where Mary Queen of Scots was imprisoned.In the corridors of power and the courtyards of country houses we meet the passionate but tragic Kateryn Parr, Henry VIII’s last wife, Lady Jane Grey the nine-day queen, and hear how Sir Walter Raleigh planned his trip to the New World. Through the places that defined them, this lively and engaging book reveals the rich history of the Tudors and paints a vivid and captivating picture of what it would have been like to live in Tudor England.
Ooohhh they ALL look so good! I am particularly interested in Magnificent Obsession and the Elizabethans (of course)!
Thanks for the heads up Daphne1
June 8, 2011 2:29 PM
I definitely want Helen Rappoport's book as well as Love and Death in Vienna.
June 8, 2011 2:45 PM
Magnificent Obsession looks right up my alley. I love the culture of death and boy did Albert's death make it fashionable.
June 8, 2011 4:19 PM
Oh, gracious, I'm hyperventillating over the Georgette Heyer biography! I have Jennifer Kloester's Heyer handbook and love it, so I'd love to get my hands on this! I'll definitely be on the lookout for the US release. Thanks for the heads-up!
June 8, 2011 5:01 PM
I'm pleased to see that you featured "The Wordsmith's Tale". I ordered it on the basis of the reviews and it is absolutely, mind-blowingly brilliant. It's so fresh and diferent. I'll now be taking the plunge with some of your other recommendations!
June 9, 2011 9:50 AM