Tanzanite's Castle Full of Books

Richard the Lionheart has his hands full. As if fighting the Saracens for Jerusalem wasn’t enough, he also has a trio of women to deal with- his wife, his sister and his physician – and they don’t make his life easy. The physician is Edythe. And although she might not be a witch (despite what many call her) she does have secrets and she is on her own crusade to reconcile who she was with who she is.

Initially, Edythe is part of the household of Richard’s sister, Joanna who is the widowed Queen of Sicily. With connections to Queen Eleanor, Edythe is a spy of sorts and even Joanna has been dragged into her mother’s plots to get Richard married and back to England where he belongs. But that's easier said than done. Joanna can scheme with the best of them and she takes a liking to Edythe and comes to trust her.

When Richard becomes ill, it is Edythe who helps him recover and for that, she earns a place close to the king. At first, Edythe fancies herself in love with Richard but he knows her secret – and she knows his.

I enjoyed that Joanna gets a chance to be more than minor characters here. She and Berengaria don’t necessarily like each other very much in the beginning and their cattiness and irritability with each other as the Crusade drags on brings some humor to the fighting that is going on around them.

Edythe strikes up a friendship with one of Richard’s trusted advisors and cousins, Rouquin. But Rouquin has secrets of his own and as an uneasy friendship begins to awkwardly turn into something more, much of the development of their relationship is walking on eggshells and hoping the other doesn’t find out the truth.

I thought The King’s Witch was an interesting story, especially some of the medical treatments and the political power struggles that often went on behind the scenes. Some of it was confusing though and I didn’t always think that things were fully explained and there were times the plot was a little slow. That the king’s physician is a woman is not impossible according to Holland Author’s Note since there were many medical practitioners of the time who were women and Louix IX’s was known to have a woman physician.

How to be a man:  “[M]en can’t endure life without another man around to be better than or liege to.” Joanna to Richard.

Confession is good for the soul:  “Angevins don’t confess, it would take too long.” Rouquin to Edythe as they discuss the fight over Jerusalem.




In case the FTC asks: Review copy from the publisher

The Tudor Throne by Brandy Purdy.  US release June 28, 2011 (released in the UK earlier this month as Mary and Elizabeth by Emily Purdy).
Before Versailles by Karleen Koen.  US and UK release June 28, 2011.


After the death of his prime minister, Cardinal Mazarin, twenty-two-year-old Louis steps into governing France. He’s still a young man, but one who, as king, willfully takes everything he can get—including his brother’s wife. As the love affair between Louis and Princess Henriette burns, it sets the kingdom on the road toward unmistakable scandal and conflict with the Vatican. Every woman wants him. He must face what he is willing to sacrifice for love.

But there are other problems lurking outside the chateau of Fontainebleau: a boy in an iron mask has been seen in the woods, and the king’s finance minister, Nicolas Fouquet, has proven to be more powerful than Louis ever thought—a man who could make a great ally or become a dangerous foe . . .

Meticulously researched and vividly brought to life by the gorgeous prose of Karleen Koen, Before Versailles dares to explore the forces that shaped an iconic king and determined the fate of an empire.

From 2009 - Chepstow Castle in Wales



My husband laughed at me when I took a picture of the sign for the tower built by William Marshall.  Thankfully he's not jealous of a guy who's been dead nearly 800 years!

Beautiful, young, exuberant, the amazing life of Elizabeth Blount, Henry VIII's mistress and mother to his first son who came tantalizingly close to succeeding him as King Henry IX. The earliest known, and longest lasting mistress of Henry VIII, Bessie Blount was the king's first love. More beautiful than Anne Boleyn or any of Henry's other wives or concubines, Bessie's beauty and other charms ensured that she turned heads, winning a place at court as one of Catherine of Aragon's ladies. Within months she was partnering the king in dancing and she rose to be the woman with the most influence over Henry, much to Catherine of Aragon's despair. The affair lasted five years (longer than most of Henry's marriages) and in 1519 she bore Henry VIII a son, Henry Fitzroy. As a mark of his importance Cardinal Wolsey was appointed his guardian and godfather.

Supplanted soon after by Mary Boleyn, Bessie's importance rests on the vital proof it gave Henry VIII that he could father a healthy son and through Henry Fitzroy, Bessie remained a prominent figure at court. In the country at large, for proving that the king was capable of fathering a son Bessie prompted the saying 'Bless'ee, Bessie Blount' and her position of mother of such an important child made her an object of interest to many of her contemporaries. Sidelined by historians until now, Bessie and the son she had by the king are one of the great 'what ifs' of English history. If Jane Seymour had not produced a male heir and Bessie's son had not died young aged 17, in all likelihood Henry Fitzroy could have followed his father as King Henry IX and Bessie propelled to the status of mother of the king.



Silk Road by Colin Falconer.  UK release October 1, 2011.

It’s this combination that catches the king’s attention. But who is a “king” these days? It’s a man with Rupert Murdoch’s resume in Brad Pitt’s body. Sounds like bliss but it’s dangerous bliss. What the king gives the king can take away… as true today as it ever was.

Cast of Characters:

Anne Boleyn: The "queen"
Henry: The "king"
Mary Boleyn: Anne's sister
Theresa Cromwell: Henry's advisor
Catherine: Henry's ex-wife
Carl Woosley: Henry's money manager
George Boleyn: Anne and Mary's brother
Lacy: George Boleyn's girlfriend
Larissa: Henry's paramour
Cliff: Theresa's paramour



The Garden Intrigue by Lauren Willig.  US and UK release February 16, 2012.

As Napoleon pursues his plans for the invasion of England, English operative Augustus Whittlesby gets wind of a top secret device, to be demonstrated over the course of a house party at Malmaison. The catch? The only way in is to join forces with that annoying American socialite, Emma Morris Delagardie, who has been commissioned to write a masque for the weekend’s entertainment. Even so, it should leave plenty of alone time with Augustus’ colleague (and goddess), Jane Wooliston, who has been tapped to play the heroine. Or so Augustus tells himself. In this complicated masque within a masque, nothing seems to go quite as scripted… especially Emma.





The Sister Queens by Sophe Perinot.  US and UK release March 6, 2012.

Raised together at the 13th Century court of their father, Raymond Berenger, Count of Provence, Marguerite and Eleanor are separated by royal marriages—but never truly parted.


Patient, perfect, reticent, and used to being first, Marguerite becomes Queen of France. Her husband, Louis IX, is considered the greatest monarch of his age. But he is also a religious zealot who denies himself all pleasure—including the love and companionship his wife so desperately craves. Can Marguerite find enough of her sister’s boldness to grasp her chance for happiness in the guise of forbidden love?

Passionate, strong-willed, and stubborn, Eleanor becomes Queen of England. Her husband, Henry III, is neither as young nor as dashing as Marguerite’s. But she quickly discovers he is a very good man…and a very bad king. His failures are bitter disappointments for Eleanor, who has worked to best her elder sister since childhood. Can Eleanor stop competing with her sister and value what she has, or will she let it slip away?


Philip of Spain, King of England:  The Forgotten Sovereign by Harry Kelsey.  Non-fiction.  Reposted with cover.  UK release November 30, 2011.

The Spanish Armada conjures up images of age-old rivalries, bravery and treachery. However the same Spanish monarch who sent the Armada to invade England in 1588 was, just a few years previously, the King of England and husband of Mary Tudor. This important new book sheds new light on Philip II of Spain, England's forgotten sovereign. Previous accounts of Mary's brief reign have focused on the martyrdom of Protestant dissenters, the loss of English territory, as well as Mary's infamous personality, meaning that her husband Philip has remained in the shadows. In this book, Harry Kelsey uncovers Philip's life - from his childhood and education in Spain, to his marriage to Mary and the political manoeuvrings involved in the marriage contract, to the tumultuous aftermath of Mary's death which ultimately led to hostile relations between Queen Elizabeth and Philip, culminating in the Armada. Focusing especially on the period of Philip's marriage to Mary, Kelsey shows that Philip was, in fact, an active King of England and took a keen interest in the rule of his wife's kingdom. Casting fresh light on both Mary and Philip, as well as European history more generally, this book will be essential reading for anyone interested in the Tudor era.



The Tudors:  History of a Dynasty by David Loades.  Non-fiction.  UK release March 8, 2012.

This title offers a new and comprehensive overview of the complete Tudor dynasty taking in the most recent scholarship. David Loades provides a masterful overview of this formative period of British history. Exploring the reign of each monarch within the framework of the dynasty, he unpacks the key questions surrounding the monarchy; the relationship between church and the state, development of government, war and foreign policy, the question of Ireland and the issue of succession in Tudor politics. Loades considers the recent scholarship on the dynasty as a whole, and Henry VIII, Elizabeth I and Mary Tudor in particular and considers how recent revisionist history asks new questions of their political and personal lives. This places our understanding of the dynasty as a whole in a new light.

The winners of the Moving Giveaway ARCs are:

Queen of Last Hopes - Rebecca H from Connecticut
Sins of the House of Borgia - Melisende from Australia
India Black - Gail M. from Tennessee
Queen by Right - Roberta from North Carolina
Rivals in the Tudor Court - Amanda from Texas
The King's Witch - Danielle from Illinois
Elizabeth I - Donna C from Tennessee
The Brothers of Gwynedd - Carolyn M from Rhode Island
Great Maria - Margaret from Canada
Heresy - Amanda from Australia

I'll be sending emails to the winners shortly.  Thanks to everyone who entered and a big "thank you" to the winners for taking these off my hands so I didn't have to move them!

Now, five years later, the Queen needs Shakespeare’s services once more. Not only is England still at war with Spain, but her court is riven by savage infighting among ambitious young courtiers.

Shakespeare is summoned by Elizabeth’s cold but deadly Privy Councillor Sir Robert Cecil and ordered to undertake two linked missions: to investigate the mystery of the doomed Roanoke colony in North America—Sir Walter Ralegh’s folly—and to spy on Cecil’s rival, the dashing Earl of Essex.

Essex is the brightest star in the firmament, the Queen’s favorite. But when Shakespeare enters Essex’s dissolute world, he discovers not only that the Queen herself is in danger, but that he and his family are also targets. With a plague devastating the country, Catholics facing persecution and martyrdom at the hands of an infamous torturer, and John’s own wife, Catherine, possibly protecting a priest—Shakespeare has his own survival to secure, as well as that of his fading but still feisty Queen.

Filled with the flavor and facts of a tumultuous time in English history, Revenger is a stunning novel of savage rivalries and reprisals from an author swiftly becoming a known master of historical suspense.





It is 1560, and Elizabeth Tudor has been on the throne for a year. Dr. John Dee, at 32 already acclaimed throughout Europe, is her astrologer and consultant in the hidden arts… a controversial appointment in these days of superstition and religious strife.

When dangerous questions of Elizabeth’s legitimacy arise, the mild, bookish Dee finds himself summoned before William Cecil, who tasks him with an important mission. Along with Robert Dudley, Dee’s daring friend and former student who is also rumored to be the Queen’s secret lover, Dee must travel to the famously mystical town of Glastonbury to find the missing bones of King Arthur. Once these long-lost relics, the embodiment of a legacy vitally important to the Tudor line, are ensconced in London, doubts as to the Queen’s supremacy as the rightful Tudor heir will be dispelled.

But the quest quickly turns deadly—Dee and Dudley arrive in Glastonbury to discover the town mourning the gruesome execution of its abbot, and more death soon follows at the old abbey. Racing to uncover the secrets buried there, Dee finds himself caught in the tangled roots of English magic, unexpected violence, the breathless stirring of first love… and the cold heart of a complex plot against Elizabeth.



The Dark Enquiry by Deanna Raybourn.  US and UK release June 21, 2011.

Partners now in marriage and in trade, Lady Julia and Nicholas Brisbane have finally returned from abroad to set up housekeeping in London. But merging their respective collections of gadgets, pets and servants leaves little room for the harried newlyweds themselves, let alone Brisbane's private enquiry business.


Among the more unlikely clients: Julia's very proper brother, Lord Bellmont, who swears Brisbane to secrecy about his case. Not about to be left out of anything concerning her beloved—if eccentric—family, spirited Julia soon picks up the trail of the investigation.

It leads to the exclusive Ghost Club, where the alluring Madame Séraphine holds evening séances…and not a few powerful gentlemen in thrall. From this eerie enclave unfolds a lurid tangle of dark deeds, whose tendrils crush reputations and throttle trust.

Shocked to find their investigation spun into salacious newspaper headlines, bristling at the tension it causes between them, the Brisbanes find they must unite or fall. For Bellmont's sake and more they'll face myriad dangers born of dark secrets, the kind men kill to keep….



The Summer Garden by Paullina Simons.  US reissue June 21, 2011.
The Magnificent Conclusion to the Timeless Epic Saga


Through years of war and devastation, Tatiana and Alexander suffered the worst the twentieth century had to offer. Miraculously reunited in America, they now have a beautiful son, Anthony, the gift of a love strong enough to survive the most terrible upheavals. Though they are still young, the ordeals they endured have changed them—and after living apart in a world laid waste, they must now find a way to live together in postwar America.

With the Cold War rising, dark forces at work in their adopted country threaten their lives, their family, and their hard-won peace. To regain the happiness they once knew, to wash away the lingering pain of the past, two lovers grown distant must somehow forge a new life . . .or watch the ghosts of their yesterdays destroy their firstborn son.

The Summer Garden . . . their odyssey is just beginning.



The Iron Hand of Mars by Lindsey Davis.  US reissue June 21, 2011.
When Germanic troops in the service of the Empire begin to rebel, and a Roman general disappears, Emperor Vespasian turns to the one man he can trust: Marcus Didius Falco, a private informer whose rates are low enough that even the stingy Vespasian is willing to pay them.


To Falco, an undercover tour of Germania in an assignment from Hades. On a journey that only a stoic could survive, Falco meets with disarray, torture, and murder. His one hope: in the northern forest lives a powerful Druid priestess who perhaps can be persuaded to cease her anti-Rome activities and work for peace. Which Falco is eagerly hoping for as, back in Rome, the Titus Caesar is busy trying to make time with Helena Justina, a senator’s daughter and Falco’s girlfriend.



Hereward by James Wilde.  UK release June 23, 2011.

1062, a time many fear is the End of Days. With the English King Edward heirless and ailing, across the grey seas in Normandy the brutal William the Bastard waits for the moment when he can drown England in a tide of blood.


The ravens of war are gathering. But as the king’s closest advisors scheme and squabble amongst themselves, hopes of resisting the naked ambition of the Norman duke come to rest with just one man: Hereward...

To some a ruthless warrior and master tactician, to others a devil in human form, Hereward is as adept in the art of slaughter as the foes that gather to claim England’s throne. But in his country’s hour of greatest need, his enemies at Court have made him outlaw. To stay alive – and a freeman – he must carve a bloody swathe from the frozen hills of Northumbria to Flanders’ fields and the fenlands of East Anglia.

The tale of a man whose deeds will become the stuff of legend, this is also the story of two mismatched allies: Hereward the man of war, and Alric, a man of peace, a monk. One will risk everything to save the land he loves, the other to save his friend’s soul...

James Wilde’s thrilling, action-packed debut rescues a great English hero from the darkest of times and brings him to brutal and bloody life.

Lincoln Cathedral (October 2010)


Unfortunately, due to the wall in front of the cathedral (which is fairly close) it was virtually impossible to get the whole front in one shot.

The second volume of Jean Plaidy’s Lucrezia Borgia story picks up where the first one left off with her marriage to her second husband, Alfonso of Naples.  First published in 1958, Light on Lucrezia recounts her happy second marriage (which ended tragically), her not so happy third, the imprisonment of her brother, the death of her father, and all of the drama in between.   The Borgias definitely were not a boring family!

The Borgias:  History's Most Notorious Dynasty by Mary Hollingsworth.  Non-fiction.  UK release September 29, 2011.



Perkin Warbeck is an ordinary young man in fifteenth-century Tournai. The son of a port official, he loves nothing more than swimming, singing and fishing with his father. But Perkin has a secret. His real name is Richard, and he is the rightful Prince of England.

Thought to have been murdered with his brother, Edward, in the Tower of London, he was covertly taken to the continent and placed with an adoptive family under an assumed identity. But when his enemies seek him out he must flee, and embarks on a new life of derring-do, sailing the high seas with the era’s greatest adventurers. But Richard cannot avoid his fate forever. He knows he must return to England, to assume the throne that is his birthright. But what for Richard is a homecoming, for the new king, Henry Tudor, is nothing less than an invasion, and ‘Perkin’ slowly comes to learn that the price of his goal is the blood of innocent men.

Based on painstaking research, and peopled by some of the most extraordinary characters of an extraordinary period, Perkin’s tale is a vivid, authentic, and hugely entertaining historical adventure.


Anne of Hollywood by Carol Wolper.  US release January 24, 2012.


The Other Boleyn Girl meets Candace Bushnell’s Trading Up as Carol Wolper, author of the bestselling novel The Cigarette Girl, re-tells the story of Anne Boleyn set in contemporary Los Angeles.


Spartacus: the Gladiator by Ben Kane.  UK release February 9, 2012.


The first of two epic novels which tell the story of one of the most charismatic heroes history has ever known - Spartacus, the gladiator slave who took on and nearly defeated the might of Rome, during the years 73-71 BC.

In historical terms we know very little about Spartacus the man - partly because most contemporary Roman historians were keen to obliterate his memory and prevent him from attaining mythic status. This of course is grist to the novelist's mill. Ben Kane's brilliant novel begins in the Thracian village to which Spartacus has returned, after escaping from life as an auxiliary in the Roman army. But here he quickly falls foul of his overlord, the Thracian king, who has set his heart on Dionysian priestess, Ariadne - later to become wife of Spartacus.

Betrayed again to the Romans by his jealous king, Spartacus - and with him Ariadne - are taken in captivity to the school of gladiators at Capua. it is here - against the unbelievable brutality of gladiatorial life - that Spartacus and Crixus the Gaul plan the audacious overthrow of their Roman masters, escaping to Vesuvius, where they recruit and train a huge slave army - an army which will keep the might of Rome at bay for two years and create one of the most extraordinary legends in history. SPARTACUS; THE GLADIATOR takes the story up to the moment when the slave army has inflicted its first great defeat on Rome.


The King's Agent by Donna Russo Morin.  US and UK release February 28, 2012.


The King’s Agent is based loosely on the life of Battista della Palla-a patriotic plunderer, a religious rogue, of the early 16th century. The Lady Aurelia is the cloistered ward of the Marquess of Mantua, a woman with a profound duty, and a longing for adventure. In search of a relic intended for the King of France, Battista and Aurelia cross the breathtaking landscape of Renaissance Italy. Clues hide in great works of art, political forces collide, secret societies and enemies abound, and danger waits in every challenge. It is an adventurous romp with undercurrents of the supernatural, powers that could change the balance of supremacy throughout Europe.


The Flower Reader by Elizabeth Loupas.  US and UK release April 3, 2012.


In the sweeping new novel from the author of The Second Duchess, dangerous secrets lead a passionate young woman into a maze of murder and conspiracy as Mary, Queen of Scots, comes home to reign in a treacherously divided Scotland….

With her dying breath, Mary of Guise entrusts a silver casket to Rinette Leslie of Granmuir, who possesses the ancient gift of floromancy. Inside the casket, and meant only for the young Mary, Queen of Scots, are papers the old queen has painstakingly collected—the darkest secrets of every Scottish lord and explosive private prophecies prepared by Nostradamus. Rinette risks her life to keep the casket safe, but she makes a fatal mistake: she shows it to her beloved young husband. On the very day the young queen comes home, Rinette’s husband is brutally assassinated.

Devastated, Rinette demands justice from the queen before she will surrender the casket. Amid glittering masques and opulent weddings, courtly intrigues and Highland rebellions, the queen’s agents and Rinette herself search for the shadowy assassin. They are surrounded by ruthless men from all over Europe who will do anything to force Rinette to give up the casket—threatening her life, stripping her of her beloved castle by the sea, forcing her to marry a man she hates, and driving her from the man she has reluctantly grown to love. In the end, the flowers are all she can trust—and only the flowers will lead her safely home to Granmuir.

The winners of The King's Witch by Cecelia Holland are:

Today we welcome Evan Ostryzniuk author of the recently released, Of Faith and Fidelity, to talk about why he chose to write about the 14th century.


The late author of popular histories Barbara Tuchman famously described the 14th century in Europe as ‘calamitous’, and then proceeds to spend a thousand pages relishing in the glory of it. The paradox in this is that, however terrible, the great events of that century were especially great, in the sense that they made a deep indelible imprint on the collective consciousness of Europeans for generations. For me, as the author of a series of stories set at the tail end of the 14th century, the attraction is that those one hundred years encompass the extremes of the medieval experience. Instead of ‘calamitous’, I prefer the term ‘transitional’, for what drives the characters and plots of Of Faith and Fidelity is the intense dynamism of the age, the violence, confusion, presumptions, and failures of a time when old certainties were withering and new ones were just being formed. The late 14th century in particular was very much a period in flux, wherein the contradictions of the age were laid bare.


The modern world, at least the European one, was born out of the chaos of the 14th century. The established church and the feudal hierarchy were fatally undermined; the money economy and déclassé middle class was strengthened; the conduct of warfare was revolutionized by the advent of gunpowder, professional organization and the decline of feudal levies. Such a dynamic time as this has much to offer the author of historical fiction. The social fissures that cracked open allow us a glimpse into the constancies and contradictions of what we call the Middle Ages.

Of Faith and Fidelity is suffused with the grand political tension of what is now called the Hundred Years War for the throne of France. Unlike earlier wars between monarchs in the Middle Ages, the conflict that erupted in 1337 when Edward III of England claimed the throne of France helped create the national myths of the respective peoples, even to contemporary observers. Crécy and Agincourt are celebrated victories of the English people, while Joan of Arc stands for French pride and defiance. These cultural developments affect how the young squire Geoffrey Hotspur pursues his dream of earning his spurs, for he understands knighthood as transnational, whereby entrance to the order depended solely on the display of knightly virtues, not language or tribal allegiance. Also, as an English squire living in France, Geoffrey Hotspur must watch his step lest he offend his hosts or cause a rupture in the fragile relations between the two kingdoms. Such tensions give the main characters more to worry about.

Any major historical crisis is a veritable treasure-trove of potential conflicts and tensions for the novelist, and one of the biggest crises in the Middle Ages was the schism suffered by the Roman Catholic Church in the 14th century. The problem started at the beginning of the century, when the king of France arranged for the papacy to move from Rome to southern France and for a succession of French popes to be elected. This was a shock to many, since the Catholic Church was built around the legacy of St. Peter, who was martyred in Rome. When the papacy returned to Rome in 1378, power politics, personal interests and national enmity conspired to destroy the unity of this most powerful institution, resulting in a schism that gave Europe two popes. Because the Church had such a pervasive influence throughout society, its troubles affected every Christian soul. Of Faith and Fidelity is set at the heart of this conflict. The schism damaged the prestige of the papacy and helped revive the debate about the nature of the established Church. The fact that wars were fought and atrocities committed for the throne of St. Peter is a striking feature of the period. The irony is that no doctrinal issue was involved; rather electoral procedure.

The 14th century is famous for the Black Death, or bubonic plague, which was brought to Europe from the Far East in 1347 and within four years killed as much as half of the population of western Europe. Disease and pestilence are as old as mankind, but no plague before or since has had such a pervasive impact on society, from demography to popular consciousness. While the ugliest aspect of this period, the attraction of the Black Death lies in how insidiously it undermined the medieval consensus about the social hierarchy, the Church, religious belief, economy, artistic sensibilities, and just about everything else. For example, the cult of Flagellants arose out of fear of the Black Death and a loss of faith in the power of King and Church; the numerous peasant revolts grew out of the social fragmentation as a result of the mass death, while attempts to restore the medieval consensus in the wake of the disease led to rebellion and violence. It was like an ever-present specter haunting Europe. Society had to deal with the pervasive effects of the Black Death for centuries.

On a lighter note, the 14th century was also responsible for developing secular culture in a direction that went beyond the allegorical or didactic towards something recognizable even today. Petrarch (Il Canzoniere, 1330s), Boccaccio (Decameron, 1350s) and Chaucer (Canterbury Tales, 1390s) wrote works that were grounded in the human experience of everyday life, not some ideal or fantasy, employing vernaculars and more lyrical forms. This is the age of early Humanism, with a growing emphasis on the secular and the individual, as opposed to salvation and the collective. People began to value themselves as something more than as a vessel for their eternal soul. This is very appealing to me as an historical novelist because not only does the growth of secular culture offer another source for me to use to create conflict or build characters, it gives the reader a point of familiarity.

Greed is good and it makes for great copy. The rise of the money economy in this period did not only mean the growth of the merchant class and expansion of the city. It also meant that feudal relations were being replaced by the cash nexus, especially in Italy, where most of my novel takes place. The concentration of cash in the hands of non-titled and non-clerical elements gave the cities and their citizens the power to make war themselves, putting their stamp on the conduct of war in the process. The condottieri, or contract captains, emerged in the 14th century to become the dominant military class in Italy, replacing feudal levies and local militias. The word comes from condotta, which means contract, but it was closer to a commercial document than a traditional indenture. In this new way of making war, the nature of military service was determined on a purely contractual basis between equals and professionals, rather than by oaths of fealty through a social hierarchy. This all goes back to the central theme about the transition from medieval to modern. The condottieri were professional mercenaries, simply speaking, but they were also agents of modernization. Many condottieri came from the titles orders, and so had service obligations to their lords, but they also operated independently. This type of military organization came into its own in the second half of the century, dominated the 15th century, and contributed to the development of standing national armies by the 16th century.


About the book:

Of Faith and Fidelity: Geoffrey Hotspur and the War for St. Peter’s Throne is the first book in the English Free Company series set in the late Middle Ages. The English Free Company is led by Geoffrey Hotspur, an orphan-squire and ward of the mighty Duke of Lancaster, whose driving ambition is to become a knight and serve a great lord. Of Faith and Fidelity takes place in 1394, at the height of the schism of the Western Church when the throne of St. Peter was contested by rival claimants in Rome and Avignon. For nearly sixteen years the papacy was divided between claimants in Rome and Avignon. Unable to settle the dispute peacefully, both sides resorted to war, and the key to winning the throne of St. Peter was control of the Patrimony, a band of territory stretching the breadth of Italy that owes fealty to whichever pope who can rule it. Before Henry V won his miraculous victory at Agincourt, before the Borgias had done their infamous deeds, there was Geoffrey Hotspur, a man as tall as Charlemagne and armed with a sword that rivals Excalibur. Thrown off the established path to knighthood, the ambitious and hot-tempered Geoffrey finds himself caught up in the war between the two popes, where he must adapt his beliefs and apply his training as a squire in order to survive.

Author info: Evan Ostryzniuk was born and raised on the prairies of western Canada, where he also attended the University of Saskatchewan. After graduating with a B.A. in History and Modern Languages and an M.A. in Modern History, Evan crossed the ocean to do post-graduate work at the University of Cambridge, concluding five years of research with a doctoral thesis on the Russian Revolution. He eventually found his way to eastern Europe, where he took up positions as a magazine editor, university lecturer and analyst in the financial services sector before finally settling on writing as a career. Evan Ostryzniuk currently resides in Kyiv, Ukraine. Of Faith and Fidelity: Geoffrey Hotspur and the War for St. Peter’s Throne is his first novel. He can be found at www.evanostryzniuk.com

As World War I ignites across Europe, political unrest sweeps Russia. First dissent, then disorder, mutiny -- and revolution. For Olga, Tatiana, Maria and Anastasia, the end of their girlhood together is colliding with the end of more than they ever imagined.

At the same time hopeful and hopeless, naïve and wise, the voices of these sisters become a chorus singing the final song of Imperial Russia. Impeccably researched and utterly fascinating, this novel by acclaimed author Sarah Miller recounts the final days of Imperial Russia with lyricism, criticism and true compassion.
 
 
 
Mary Tudor by David Loades.  Non-fiction.  This originally had a June 15, 2011 release date but Amazon UK now shows June 1 and Amazon US just says June.

Daughter of Henry VIII, half-sister to the future Elizabeth I, the dramatic story of the first woman to rule England - and the cruel fate of those who opposed her iron will. Mary Tudor was the first female English sovereign - a ruling queen who was not simply the consort of the king. Yet little is known about this complex woman, whose reputation for ruthlessness belied her emotional fragility and who, like her half-sister Elizabeth, had to survive from childhood in the turbulent Tudor court.

David Loades explores the twisting path whereby Princess Mary, daughter of a rejected wife, Catherine of Aragon, and a capricious father - Henry VIII - endured disfavour, personal crisis and house arrest to emerge as Queen of England with huge popular support. The high promise of her reign contrasts with the personal tragedies and disappointments that followed, from the Smithfield burnings and the loss of Calais to her doomed, loveless marriage to Philip of Spain. Loades' probing yet sympathetic account reveals an intriguing personality, impelled by deep-set beliefs and principles yet uncertain how to behave in a 'man's' role.



Anne Boleyn:  The Young Queen to Be by Josephine Wilkinson.  Non-fiction.  US and UK release June 15, 2011.

The story of Anne Boleyn's early life, told in detail for the first time. Anne Boleyn is perhaps the most engaging of Henry VIII's Queens. For her he would divorce his wife of some twenty years standing, he would take on the might of the Roman Church and the Holy Roman Empire; he would even alienate his own people in order to win her favour and, eventually, her hand. But before Henry came into her life Anne Boleyn had already wandered down love's winding path. She had learned its twists and turns during her youth spent at the courts of the Low Countries and France, where she had been sent as a result of her scandalous behaviour with her father's butler and chaplain. Here her education had been directed by two of the strongest women of the age - and one of the weakest.

Bodiam Castle (from 2010).  We just loved this castle that looks like it came out of a fairytale.

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.

January 1069. Less than three years have passed since Hastings and the death of the usurper, Harold Godwineson. In the depths of winter, two thousand Normans march to subdue the troublesome province of Northumbria. Tancred a Dinant, an ambitious and oath-sworn knight and a proud leader of men, is among them, hungry for battle, for silver and for land.

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.

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.

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.

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.