My Review (5 stars out of 5) The classic wartime adventure story that tells how 600 men worked on a plan that would eventually result in 76 men escaping from a prisoner-of-war camp. With men engaged in digging, forging passports and other documents, making suitable escape outfits and keeping the Germans occupied when they got…
Category: History
‘The Watermen’ by Patrick Easter
My Review (4 stars out of 5) 1798 – the Port of London. Villainous Irishman Boylin gets the opportunity to take revenge on his nemesis, Captain Tom Pascoe, the man responsible for giving Boylin 200 lashes on board ship. When Pascoe is offered the position of River Surveyor in the newly formed marine police, he…
‘Biko’ by Donald Woods
My Review (5 stars out of 5) Activist and founder of the Black Consciousness Movement, Steve Biko was hounded by the South African authorities for his outspoken views on apartheid. Detained, arrested, banned and beaten by security police, Biko died on 12 September 1977. Daily Dispatch editor Donald Woods had become a close friend of…
‘Guardians at the Wall’ by Tim Walker
My Review (5 stars out of 5) At Hadrian’s Wall, a group of archaeology students explore the area close to the ancient ruins, searching for buried artefacts left by the Romans while guarding the barrier separating Roman Britain from the Caledonian tribes. Twenty-year-old Noah is delighted to discover a figurine, and hopes it’ll put him…
‘Rivers of London’ by Ben Aaronovitch
***** Probationary cop Peter Grant longs for an interesting transfer in the Metropolitan Police Service, but after a strange encounter with Nicholas Wallpenny (who happens to be a ghost), what he gets is something unexpected. Learning that his new inspector is also a bit of a wizard, Grant finds himself talking to dead people, casting…
‘Scottish Witches’ by Lily Seafield
*** This is a collection of factual, and no-so-factual, tales of Scottish witches, ghosts, superstitions and folklore, and ranges from the seventeenth century through to the twentieth. For the most part, the stories are about witches and the various confessions, trials and punishments dished out to them by a society that believed ordinary folk could…
‘A Fine Day for a Hanging’ by Carol Ann Lee
***** When 28-year-old Ruth Ellis shot her lover, David Blakely, in 1955, she set in motion a trial that rocked the country. Found guilty, she was sentenced to death and became the last woman to be hanged in Britain. With many theories about what really happened, this account attempts to lay out the facts, rather…
Guest Post Q and A with Tim Walker
With the launch of his latest book, I invited Tim Walker along to talk about writing, research and all things Roman… Tell me about your latest book. Hi Colin – thanks for having me on your blog. My new book is ‘Arthur Rex Brittonum’, book five in ‘A Light in the Dark Ages’ series. It…
‘Leopard at the Door’ by Jennifer McVeigh
Leopard at the Door Returning to Kenya after six years in England, eighteen-year-old Rachel has high expectations on her arrival at the family farm. But finding her father’s new partner and son are now living there, and with the memory of a horrible incident still haunting her, the young woman struggles to…
‘Diary of a Young Girl’ by Anne Frank
Diary of a Young Girl Teenager Anne Frank’s record of life in a secret annexe for more than two years during World War Two, is a unique document, portraying innocence and humanity, suffering and survival in the starkest and most moving terms. This version of Anne’s diary brings together all the versions of the book,…
Colin Garrow 