Victorian War

1879. The British Empire marches into Zululand, and disaster. Newly commissioned and untested, Second Lieutenant William Blackwood arrives from Monmouthshire to the wild frontier of South Africa, as Her Majesty’s forces prepare to crush the Zulu Kingdom. For Blackwood, it is meant to be the beginning of a proud military career: clean uniforms, sharp commands, and the steady march of empire. Instead, he finds confusion, chaos, and the first bitter lessons of war. Tasked with reinforcing a remote column of British and colonial troops, Blackwood is plunged into a campaign of dust-choked ...

1879. The British Empire is about to face an enemy it cannot understand and cannot outrun. Something ancient is rising in the east. Villages fall silent. Entire regiments vanish. And in the Carpathian Mountains, a remote fort is torn apart in a single night of blood and terror. Captain Charles Hayward survives the massacre, but survival is only the beginning. As Europe descends into chaos, Hayward leads a desperate band of soldiers and civilians through abandoned towns and ravaged countryside. What hunts them is no ordinary enemy. It does not tire. It does not fear. And it is multiplying. ...

“You have not laid eyes on me in five years. Do not call me your wife.” The gossip columns claim that the Duchess of Kensington is pregnant. Which is outrageous, considering that she has not seen her husband in five years. Having already seen his first wife to the grave, Dominic does not wish to repeat the past. So, he must keep his distance from his new Duchess. Yet… despite his indifference, Dominic is enraged to hear the rumors. And he returns to London to demand her submission. Only to find her in utter disobedience… And even more irresistible than he remembered.

Dust and gunfire mark the march to Kandahar. After the disaster at Maiwand, Lieutenant William Blackwood marches with the Kabul Field Force under General Frederick Roberts on one of the most gruelling campaigns in British military history. Three hundred miles of dust, disease, and burning heat lie between them and the besieged city of Kandahar. The land itself becomes the enemy. Dust storms choke the column, dysentery ravages the ranks, and water is more precious than ammunition. Through it all, Blackwood and the men of B Company endure, marching beside Highlanders, Gurkhas, Sikhs, and ...

From Sunday Times bestseller Katherine Webb. A long-buried crime. A marriage built on lies. Could the truth be a second chance? England, 1902. More than a decade has passed since a wrongful accusation sent a young man to the gallows, an injustice that shattered the lives of those left...

March 1879. Zululand burns, and the fate of the frontier will be decided on the blood-red heights of Kambula. Second Lieutenant William Blackwood, marches north with the Monmouthshire Fusiliers as Her Majesty’s forces prepare to strike a hammer blow against the enemy. Assigned to Colonel Evelyn Wood’s elite flying column on the untamed frontier, Blackwood is swept into a relentless campaign of raids, skirmishes, and mountain warfare. Here, loyalty is measured in blood, and every patrol could be a man’s last. From the shattered ridges of Hlobane to the storm-wracked heights of Kambula,...

Dive into the epic saga of England's monarchy with "Monarchs of England: A Journey Through Time," a comprehensive and captivating exploration of the kings and queens who have shaped the history of England from the Norman Conquest to the modern day. This detailed narrative brings to life the Norman Kings who laid the foundations of the English monarchy, the formidable Plantagenets who ruled during an era of unprecedented expansion and conflict, and the rival houses of Lancaster and York, whose struggles culminated in the Wars of the Roses. Witness the rise of the Tudor dynasty, known for its...

Enemies. On the run. Enemies until..."What if I never see you again?" Union Captain John Howe escaped a living hell when he tunneled his way out of a Confederate prison, but his ordeal was far from over. Now he was saddled with his own prisoner, the sad, stubborn Amanda Douglas, on a journey that would change them forever. Even her previous spartan existence had not prepared Amanda for the dangerous trek she was now making--entirely against her will. Could a privileged Yankee son and a poor, proud Rebel girl keep their love safe from the rest of the world?

Snow and gunfire announce the Siege of Sherpur. As winter closes in on Afghanistan, the British and Indian garrison withdraws into Sherpur Cantonment, a sprawling fortress beneath the frozen hills. What begins as uneasy occupation turns swiftly into encirclement. Afghan forces gather in vast numbers across the plain and on the surrounding heights, their fires burning closer each night, their attacks growing bolder with every passing hour. There is no single front and no respite. By day, skirmishers and artillery test the walls. By night, shadows creep through nullahs and ditches, steel ...

Uncover the conflict that redefined modern combat in The First Industrial War: The 19th-Century Blueprint for Global Conflict. While often overshadowed by the world wars that followed, the Crimean War was a pivotal turning point where ancient imperial ambitions met the brutal efficiency of the industrial age. This detailed narrative unmasks the struggle surrounding the "Sick Man of Europe"—the fading Ottoman Empire—and the high-stakes game played by Russia, Britain, and France to control the Black Sea. As a premier entry in Crimean War history books, this work explores the technological...

As Europe crumbles under the shadow of darkness, Nazar prepares to strike his deadliest blow yet. His legions of monstrous creatures and soldiers mass along the French coastline, poised to shatter the very heart of the British Victorian Empire. Across the Channel, Captain Charles Hayward, recovering from his last brutal battle, is desperate for word of his family. Though hope fades, his love for them becomes his driving force. Determined to buy precious time, Hayward leads a daring raid deep into enemy-occupied France, drawing on his hard-won experience against Nazar’s unholy forces. But ...

The New York Times bestselling novel that has been called “a tour de force” (Wall Street Journal), “unputdownable” (The Washington Post), “a delicious hothouse of a novel” (USA Today), “effortless” (The Economist), “seductive” (Vanity Fair) and “pitch perfect” (Salon)...

Awarded a 5* review from Readers' Favourite. December 2023. Julia Bell has a beautiful way of slowing the pace of the story enough to give rhythm to everyday life, while also giving it an urgency that draws the reader onto the next page. Reviewed by Phumeza Ndzambo Also awarded an Honourable Mention from The Historical Fiction Company 2024 (Austen Category) When Antheia loses her parents at the age of seventeen, she must leave her childhood home and travel to Lancashire to live with her maternal uncle and family. Arriving at Sedgwick Abbey, she meets her new relatives and discovers she ...

A hauntingly powerful novel about how the choices we make can stay with us forever, by the award-winning author of The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August and 84K. "Gripping, bloody, and haunting." —Kirkus Reviews South Africa in the 1880s. A young and naive English doctor by the name of...

An espionage thriller that has been called the first great spy novel, it has sustained its popularity, being embraced by each new generation. The first in a series of five novels it features the spy Richard Hannay, an action hero with a stiff upper lip who gets caught up in a dangerous race against a plot by German spies to destroy the British war effort. When Richard Hannay offers sanctuary to an American agent seeking his help in stopping a political assassination, he takes the first step on a trail of peril and espionage.

June 1879. The Zulu Kingdom stands defiant, and Lord Chelmsford’s redcoats march for its heart. The campaign nears its climax, and the British forces gather their strength for the final advance on Ulundi. After months of marching, building, and battle, Lieutenant William Blackwood and the Monmouthshire Fusiliers push east through the wild country of the White Mfolozi. Behind them lie the forts they have built and the comrades they have buried; ahead, the capital of the Zulu kingdom and the promise of victory hard-won. Ordered to join Lord Chelmsford’s main column in the drive toward ...

The war to end the slave trade has only just begun. When his brother is brutally murdered in the lawless streets of Freetown, Henry "Harry" Crawford abandons his old life and joins the Royal Marines, burning with vengeance. Sent to the savage West African coast, Harry hunts the slavers who still cram human beings into stinking holds and race to outrun the Royal Navy. In a desperate boarding action he charges straight into a deadly ambush, facing musket fire, betrayal and a cannon loaded with death. There, chained in the blood-soaked darkness, he meets Kofi, a fierce African warrior who has ...

Autumn 1879. The empire marches north. Lieutenant William Blackwood and the Monmouthshire Fusiliers return from Africa, only to be swept into another conflict as Afghanistan erupts in violence. The murder of the British mission in Kabul sends shockwaves through the Raj, forcing an immediate reaction. Major General Roberts is ordered to form a new field force, and Blackwood’s regiment is ordered to the frontier to force a passage into the mountains. From the furnace heat of Bombay to the thin air of the Shutargardan Pass, the advance is relentless. Roads crumble into mule tracks. Supply ...

Fenian bombers revolutionised the concept of political violence in the nineteenth century. Between 1881 and 1885, Irish-American Fenian bombers known popularly as Dynamitards, undertook a sustained bombing campaign in Victorian London. For the first time in British history, through an integrated use of explosives and timers and utilising modern technology, the Irish question was not confined to Ireland but now affected daily life in British cities through the unprecedented experience of political violence. To meet this challange the British state established a secret service reliant on a ...

A trustee found shot dead in her own orchard. A daughter who no longer knows which of her family's secrets to trust. A killer who has been standing in plain sight since page one. Selina Marsh has exactly one demand of her cold, unyielding cousin Odilia Vane: release the inheritance that will let her marry the man she loves. Instead, on a night torn apart by thunder, Odilia is shot dead in the orchard behind her own house, and the only clue is a scrap of black mourning crape torn loose in her dying hand. What follows is a slow unraveling of everything Selina thought she knew about her own ...