Showing titles in Historical Fiction

Flying instructor Ellie Simpson has grown up a tomboy. She's never had an interest in the latest fashions or finding a husband; her only passion is flying her beloved Tiger Moth. But when war is declared, she is no longer be able to do what she loves most - fly.

It's 1989, and Allie Burns is back. Older and maybe wiser, she's running the northern news operation of the Sunday Globe, chafing at losing her role in investigative journalism and at the descent into the gutter of the UK tabloid media. But there's plenty to keep her occupied. The year begins with the memorial service to the victims of the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, but Allie has barely filed her copy when she stumbles over a story about HIV/AIDS that will shock her into a major change of direction.

Award-winning and New York Times best-selling author Mary Balogh delights fans with historical romantic tales that touch the heart. After her husband dies in a freak accident, Lady Gwendoline Muir never dreams she’ll love again. So when soldier-turned-nobleman Lord Hugo Trentham stirs feelings in her that have lain dormant for years, she can’t help but imagine his strong embrace. Hugo finds himself drawn to Gwen, but he’s never courted a woman before. Can he muster the right words to make Gwen open her heart and love once more?

Benedict Hannan has veered off his celibate, godly path and onto one of erotic exploration with his beloved criminal Sebastian Cavell. He is also trying and failing to rid himself of the insidious bonds of the deviant cabal Fratres Seminis. The cabal drew Benedict into their blasphemous schemes at the behest of his ex-lover Lord Euan Ardmillan. However, now Ardmillan is out of favour with the leader, Lawrence Blake, and considered to be a betrayer.

1793 and Europe is ablaze with war. Thomas Paine Kydd, a young wig-maker from Guildford, is seized by the press gang to be a part of the crew of the 98-gun line-of-battle ship Duke William. The ship sails immediately and Kydd has to learn the harsh realities of shipboard life fast. Despite all that he goes through in danger of tempest and battle he comes to admire the skills and courage of the seamen - taking up the challenge himself to become a true sailor.

The first book in a brand-new series, The Last Kingdom is set in England during the reign of King Alfred. Uhtred is an English boy, born into the aristocracy of ninth-century Northumbria. Orphaned at 10, he is captured and adopted by a Dane and taught the Viking ways. Yet Uhtred's fate is indissolubly bound up with Alfred, King of Wessex, who rules over the only English kingdom to survive the Danish assault. The struggle between the English and the Danes and the strife between christianity and paganism is the background to Uhtred's growing up.

Whether hunting warlords in Japan, druglords in Colombia, or nuclear terrorists in the United States, John Clark is efficient and deadly ? but even he has ghosts in his past, demons that must be exorcised. And nothing is more demonic than the peril he must face as the commander of a covert multi-national anti-terrorism squad known as Rainbow. Almost as soon as the group is formed, three terrorist attacks occur that seem unrelated at first, but may be the beginning of a new brand of terrorism like nothing the world has ever encountered before.

In this new adventure, Hornblower is overjoyed to discover his next task is to serve aboard the mighty HMS Renown. After witnessing some unsettling scenes however, he soon finds himself struggling to serve under the captain, James Sawyer, whose unsound mind leads him to treat his crew with extreme suspicion and contempt.

The Cotswolds, 1924. At the Old Forge in the quiet village of Maybury-in-the-Marsh a cry of anguish rings out: lady of the house Amy Phelps has been discovered dead. But with all the windows and doors to her room locked from inside, how – and by whom – was she killed? Arbuthnot ‘Arbie’ Swift finds himself in the unlikely position of detective. The celebrated author of The Gentleman’s Guide to Ghost-Hunting is staying at the Old Forge to investigate a suspected spectre, but now the more pressing matter of Amy’s murder falls to him too.

It is 1537, a time of revolution that sees the greatest changes in England since 1066. Henry VIII has proclaimed himself Supreme Head of the Church. The country is waking up to savage new laws, rigged trials and the greatest network of informers ever seen. And under the orders of Thomas Cromwell, a team of commissioners is sent throughout the country to investigate the monasteries.

Three lives will change the destiny of nations. Helikaon, the young prince of Dardania, haunted by a scarred and traumatic childhood. The priestess Andromache, whose fiery spirit and fierce independence threatens the might of kings. And the legendary warrior Argurios, cloaked in loneliness and driven only by thoughts of revenge. In Troy they find a city torn apart by destructive rivalries - a maelstrom of jealousy, deceit and murderous treachery.

Two heroes of the Roman army - Prefect Cato and Centurion Macro, now battle-scarred veterans, tough and resilient - lead their best men into the midst of an enemy both fearless and resourceful. Far from Rome in cold, rainy, unwelcoming Britannia, the soldiers need all their training to stand strong and undaunted as constant attacks challenge morale. And a leader like no other sends fear through the ranks: Boudica.

At the heart of Joseph Heller's best-selling novel, first published in 1961, is a satirical indictment of military madness and stupidity, and the desire of the ordinary man to survive it.

Robin Moore became one of the first true embedded journalists by training with and fighting alongside the Green Berets in Vietnam. Though fictionalized, his work is an eye-opening exposé of the horrors of the Vietnam War and the basis for the hit John Wayne movie of the same title. Taut, fast-paced, and interspersed with unforgettable accounts of combat, Moore’s novel features an American major who goes "native" with Montagnard tribesmen, a courageous Vietnamese girl who poses as a rabid anti-American Communist to capture a murderous Viet Cong officer, and the unforgettable acts of courage of soldiers in the field.

Will Darling came back from the Great War with a few scars, a lot of medals, and no idea what to do next. Inheriting his uncle's chaotic secondhand bookshop is a blessing...until strange visitors start making threats. First a criminal gang, then the War Office, both telling Will to give them the information they want, or else. Will has no idea what that information is, and nobody to turn to, until Kim Secretan - charming, cultured, oddly attractive - steps in to offer help. As Kim and Will try to find answers and outrun trouble, mutual desire grows along with the danger.

Sergeant Richard Sharpe witnesses a murderous act of treachery and, with Sir Arthur Wellesley, faces the Mahratta Horde. The paths of treachery all lead to the small village of Assaye. Outnumbered and outgunned, Wellesley, with a diminished British army, plunges his men into the white heat of battle. A battle that will make his reputation, and perhaps Sharpe's too.

Even at 15, Jeanne, the privileged daughter of a royalist EmigrE, knew what she liked: Englishman Robert Blake, bastard son of a marquess. Yet his questionable birth rendered him forbidden. Forced to part, they were still young enough to believe in tomorrow. But as time passed, that brief ephemeral flirtation at Haddington Hall faded into memory.

Autumn, 1541. King Henry VIII has set out on a spectacular Progress to the North to attend an extravagant submission of his rebellious subjects in York. Already in the city are lawyer Matthew Shardlake and his assistant Jack Barak. As well as assisting with legal work processing petitions to the King, Shardlake has reluctantly undertaken a special mission - to ensure the welfare of an important but dangerous conspirator being returned to London for interrogation.

Thrilling, authentic, and action packed, this novel introduces soldier hero Marcus Valerius: a centurion stationed on Hadrian's Wall in the second century during a revolt against the Roman Empire. Marcus Valerius Aquila has scarcely landed in Britannia when he has to run for his life - condemned to dishonorable death by power-crazed emperor Commodus. The plan is to take a new name, serve in an obscure regiment on Hadrian's Wall, and lie low until he can hope for justice.

The Confidential Files of John H. Watson collection contains the following titles: Sherlock Holmes and the Giant Sumatran Rat, Sherlock Holmes and the Father of Lies, Sherlock Holmes and the Nefarious Seafarers, Sherlock Holmes and the Time Machine.