Tag Archives: France
In which the Author publishes his 31st book, ‘Bloody British History’…
Bloody British History, my 31st book, has just been published. It’s a sanguinary canter through some of the
more gruesome aspects of British history, with an eye to not merely the murderous and macabre, but also to
the strange and, at times, surreal. Delve within the illustrated pages and you will learn of prehistoric cannibals using skulls as drinking cups, discover how to boil a poisoner to death, understand the technique of chemical warfare during medieval sea battles, and learn more about the use of cheese as an instrument of torture than you ever wanted to know.
With a full cast including Ancient Britons, Romans, Barbarians, Anglo-Saxons, Vikings, Normans, Pirates,
Jacobites and invading Frenchmen, Bloody British History relates some of the most famous episodes in the
history of the British Isles from unfamiliar perspectives. The sight of the largest ship in the Spanish Armada
keeling over with blood pouring from its scuppers. The giant Viking at Stamford Bridge finally defeated by a
spear thrust to the testicles from below the bridge he was defending. William the Conqueror turning the North of England into an uninhabited wasteland. The Scots inventing the concentration camp. Roman SEALs
conducting amphibious warfare. Witchcraft in Westminster politics. Not the six wives, but the Six Executions of Henry VIII. And how not to assassinate Queen Victoria.
Featuring walk-on parts from all manner of unpleasant characters from Richard the Lionheart and Bloody
Mary to Jack the Ripper and Hitler’s Gestapo, Bloody British History does what it says on the can.
There will, indeed, be blood.
The book is published by The History Press and is available through all the usual retail channels, including the country’s hard-pressed but indispensable brick-and-mortar bookshops.
In which the Author gives another writing class…
The next in the series of writing classes here in Gascony will be on Sunday 7th September, in Nogaro (Gers).
The topics of the day will be ‘Dialogue’ and ‘Voice / Style’ – both crunch issues for many authors.
The full-day writing class is suitable for authors of all kinds of fiction.
The fee is €23. The venue is wheelchair accessible and there is free parking nearby.
Everyone welcome. And if you have writerly friends, don’t bother to share the news with them (wait, that’s not quite right…).