Those Who Marched Away

War infects everything it touches. For everyone, whether combatant or not, it is the most testing of times, when the old certainties and moral imperatives cannot be guaranteed. Life hangs by a gossamer thread and many people who would otherwise not keep diaries are moved to record what they see, feel and do.

William I. Hitchcock on Liberation

What does it mean to liberate a country? What is the real cost of freedom?

In Liberation, William Hitchcock shows that the end of the Second World War in Europe was bloodier, messier and more complex than we would like to believe.

An interview with Giles Foden, author of Turbulence

Giles Foden returns with his fourth novel Turbulence, a story about forecasting the weather on D-Day and the tale of one man’s attempt to find a scientific Holy Grail. Giles explains more about the book in this special interview

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July historical fiction round-up

Our roundup of the best new historical fiction for July and August traverses the battlefields of the First and Second World Wars to the wilds of the North Carolina mountains stopping at a mysterious manor house and Shakespeare’s London along the way…

The Booklist: Shimmering Cities

Standing tall against the wind and rain, bathed in sunshine and heat haze; drifting in the imagination, or seeped in emotion, magic and memories warm and tragic, cities are as fertile as the earth for the written word.

Roger Crowley: Empires of the Sea

George Miller talks to Roger Crowley about his latest book, Empires of the Sea, which looks at the struggles played out in the sixteenth century between the Christians and the Ottomans for control of the Mediterranean.

Nicholas Rankin on British deception in WW2

The author of Churchill’s Wizards talks about the vital role that deception played in preserving Britain during the darkest hours of World War Two.