Showing results for "hilary" in Historical Fiction

England, the 1520s. Henry VIII is on the throne but has no heir. Cardinal Wolsey is his chief advisor, charged with securing the divorce the pope refuses to grant. Into this atmosphere of distrust and need comes Thomas Cromwell, first as Wolsey's clerk and later his successor. Cromwell is a wholly original man: the son of a brutal blacksmith, a political genius, a briber, a charmer, a bully, a man with a delicate and deadly expertise in manipulating people and events.

England, the 1520s. Henry VIII is on the throne, but has no heir. Cardinal Wolsey is his chief advisor, charged with securing the divorce the pope refuses to grant. Into this atmosphere of distrust and need, comes Thomas Cromwell, first as Wolsey's clerk, and later his successor.

A tour-de-force of historical imagination, this is the story of three young men at the dawn of the French Revolution. Georges-Jacques Danton: zealous, energetic, debt-ridden. Maximilien Robespierre: small, diligent, and terrified of violence. And Camille Desmoulins: a genius of rhetoric, charming, handsome, but erratic and untrustworthy. As these key figures of the French Revolution taste the addictive delights of power, they must also come to face the horror that follows.

By 1535 Thomas Cromwell is chief minister to Henry VIII, his fortunes having risen with those of Anne Boleyn, the king’s new wife. But Anne has failed to give the king an heir, and Cromwell watches as Henry falls for plain Jane Seymour. Cromwell must find a solution that will satisfy Henry, safeguard the nation and secure his own career. But neither minister nor king will emerge unscathed from the bloody theatre of Anne’s final days.

England, May 1536. Anne Boleyn is dead, decapitated in the space of a heartbeat by a hired French executioner. As her remains are bundled into oblivion, Thomas Cromwell breakfasts with the victors. The blacksmith's son from Putney emerges from the spring's bloodbath to continue his climb to power and wealth, while his formidable master, Henry VIII, settles to short-lived happiness with his third queen. Cromwell is a man with only his wits to rely on; he has no great family to back him, no private army. 

In Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall trilogy, one of our very best writers brings the opulent world of the Tudors to bloody, glittering life. It is the backdrop to the rise and rise of Thomas Cromwell: lowborn boy, charmer, bully, master of deadly intrigue, and, finally, most powerful of Henry VIII's courtiers. But the bloody theatre of Cromwell's ascension will leave no one unscathed. This collection includes expertly adapted versions of Wolf Hall, Bring up the Bodies and The Mirror and the Light alongside The World of Wolf Hall.

By 1535 Thomas Cromwell, the blacksmith's son, is far from his humble origins. Chief Minister to Henry VIII, his fortunes have risen with those of Anne Boleyn, Henry’s second wife, for whose sake Henry has broken with Rome and created his own church. In Bring Up the Bodies, Hilary Mantel explores one of the most mystifying and frightening episodes in English history: the destruction of Anne Boleyn.

This program is read by Ben Miles, who played Thomas Cromwell in the Royal Shakespeare Company adaptation of Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies “[Ben] Miles’ charming, yet dastardly narration makes Cromwell an anti-hero worth rooting for no matter how hard you try not to.”—TIME on Wolf...

WINNER OF THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE WINNER OF THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD FOR FICTION In inimitable style, Hilary Mantel's New York Times bestselling Wolf Hall is "a darkly brilliant reimagining of life under Henry VIII. . . . Magnificent." (The Boston Globe). The basis for the TV series...

England, May 1536. Anne Boleyn is dead, decapitated in the space of a heartbeat by a hired French executioner. As her remains are bundled into oblivion, Thomas Cromwell breakfasts with the victors. The blacksmith’s son from Putney emerges from the spring’s bloodbath to continue his climb to power and wealth, while his formidable master, Henry VIII, settles to short-lived happiness with his third queen, Jane Seymour. Cromwell is a man with only his wits to rely on; he has no great family to back him, no private army. 

Diana 'Steve' Escott-Stevens knows what she is getting herself into. For 12 months she has fed and looked after agents preparing for a mission in France. She knows that only half of them will come back. But she is young, brave and moreover speaks fluent French. When she applies to become an agent for the Special Operations Executive she is readily accepted and sent off for training to prepare her for the field.

*NOW A MAJOR SKY TV SERIES. Read the novel Season 3 is based on.* THE NO.1 SUNDAY TIMES AND NEW YORK TIMES HARDBACK BESTSELLER Fall deeper under the spell of Diana and Matthew in this phenomenal third instalment of their epic tale, following A DISCOVERY OF WITCHES and SHADOW OF NIGHT...

Now a major TV series Winner of the Man Booker Prize Shortlisted for the the Orange Prize Shortlisted for the Costa Novel Award `Dizzyingly, dazzlingly good' Daily Mail ‘Our most brilliant English writer’ Guardian England, the 1520s. Henry VIII is on the throne, but has no heir. Cardinal...

Seventeen-year-old Ariadne is in love with young British National Serviceman, Stephen Allenby. But her family are deeply involved with an organization campaigning for a union with Greece, and do not approve. And they’re not the only ones. It’s only a matter of time before Stephen is sent back to England, leaving Ariadne pregnant and alone. Stephen does his best to move on with his life. He marries Laura and has a baby girl called Cressida, but it’s not long before the cracks start to show and his marriage falls apart …

Kim Maxwell has been languishing in the “cooler” in what she sees as punishment for getting caught—and tortured—by the Nazis, before being freed by Resistance fighters and smuggled back into England. Now she is sent for by the head of SOE. This is her chance to prove herself. A fellow agent has been found murdered. It would seem that Lilian Harvey heard something she shouldn’t have and that her murder was a warning. Setting out to uncover the culprit, Kim spots a strange zigzag pattern on the wall above the bed where the body was found, which Lilian drew using her own blood as she lay dying.

In Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall trilogy, one of our very best writers brings the opulent world of the Tudors to bloody, glittering life. It is the backdrop to the rise and rise of Thomas Cromwell: lowborn boy, charmer, bully, master of deadly intrigue, and, finally, most powerful of Henry VIII’s coutiers. But the bloody theatre of Cromwell’s ascension will leave no one unscathed. 

Now a major TV series Winner of the Man Booker Prize 2012 Winner of the 2012 Costa Book of the Year Shortlisted for the 2013 Women’s Prize for Fiction ‘Simply exceptional…I envy anyone who hasn’t yet read it’ Daily Mail ‘A gripping story of tumbling fury and terror’ Independent on...

London. 1928. For centuries, the establishment has suppressed public knowledge of lesbian love. Now, a celebrated writer is set to fight back. Award-winning author, Radclyffe Hall, hopes her new novel, The Well of Loneliness, will transform attitudes to same-sex relationships. It soon comes...

Kitty has escaped her family home in England to join an international brigade of fighters high up on the snow-covered Spanish borders, determined to lead an effective fight against the growing Fascist forces sweeping across Spain. In Oxford, Grace has embarked on a new posting, working with two medical scientists—one Australian, one a German refugee—on the brink of a great discovery that will impact a life-changing treatment for infection. But for now, they need to keep their findings away from the envious eyes of Nazi extremists.

WINNER OF THE COSTA BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD (2011) A year of bones, of grave-dirt, relentless work. Of mummified corpses and chanting priests. A year of rape, suicide, sudden death. Of friendship too. Of desire. Of love... A year unlike any other he has lived. Deep in the heart of Paris, its...