My Review (5 stars out of 5) (Audiobook) As a playwright, Noel Coward is best known for his most popular stage plays ‘Private Lives’, ‘Hay Fever’ and ‘Blithe Spirit’, though he wrote many works that are largely unfamiliar to the theatre-going public. He also wrote novels, screenplays and serious and comic songs, such as ‘Mad…
Category: History
‘Thames Valley Tales’ by Tim Walker
My Review (4 stars out of 5) (Audiobook) This collection of nine short stories is inspired by the author’s experience of living in Thames Valley towns, mixing modern-day themes with tales and legends from the area between London and the heart of rural England. As with all short story collections, there are those which stand…
‘Divided Empire’ by Brian Kitchen
My Review (4 stars out of 5) Britain, 391 AD. While the powers-that-be in Rome vie for control of the empire, Flavius Vitulasius and his pal, Siward, are engaged on a confidential mission – an important document, the ‘Pagan Concord’, could rip Britain apart leading to civil war between the Christians and Pagans. Teaming up…
‘King of Kings’ by MJ Porter
My Review (4 stars out of 5) Following his father’s death, King Athelstan rules over the English, unifying the territories of Wessex, Mercia and York. But uniting the Scots and Welsh to ensure peace and protect against invasion from the Norse Vikings, isn’t so easy. Set against him, is his own stepbrother, Edwin, who believes…
‘Just One Damned Thing After Another’ by Jodi Taylor
My Review (3 stars out of 5) Recruited to the mysterious St Mary’s Institute of Historical Research, Dr Madeleine Maxwell finds that some historians don’t just sit on their thumbs and read about history, but actually go there. But History has rules and trying to outdo it can incur a serious risk to health and…
‘Secrets and Lies’ by Christine Keeler
My Review (5 stars out of 5) Sixties model Christine Keeler tells her part in helping bring down Harold Macmillan’s government via the infamous scandal known as the Profumo Affair. Uncovering the intimate lives of her friends Stephen Ward and model Mandy Rice-Davies, Keeler relates what actually happened all those years ago, including disclosures she…
‘The House at Sea’s End’ by Elly Griffiths
My Review (5 stars out of 5) Investigating coastal erosion, forensic archaeologist Dr Ruth Galloway and her team discover six bodies buried at the foot of a cliff. Tests on the bodies reveal that they have lain there since World War Two when Britain was threatened by invasion. Along with her cop pal Harry Nelson,…
‘Warrior and Protector’ by Peter Gibbons
My Review (5 out of 5 stars) As Viking longboats head for the shores of England, Saxon Thegn Beornoth has little to look forward to – charged by the farmers of Knutsford to track down a bunch of masterless men, he must locate them and make them pay for their crimes: stealing, looting and killing.…
‘Follow Me Down’ by Shelby Foote
My Review (5 stars out of 5) (Audiobook) God-fearing farmer Luther Eustis gets himself into trouble when he runs off with a young woman. Following a few weeks of bliss, he decides to return to his family but knowing his paramour will chase him back home, he kills her. Like many readers I first became…
‘The Looming Tower’ by Lawrence Wright
My Review (5 stars out of 5) Covering more than five decades, The Looming Tower describes the growth of Islamic fundamentalism, the rise of al-Qaeda, and the communication and other failures within the CIA and other agencies that led to the attacks on the World Trade Centre. Lawrence Wright charts the lives and development of…
Colin Garrow 