Showing results by publisher "Hodder & Stoughton" in Historical Fiction

When you haven't had sex in a long time, it feels like the worst thing that could ever happen to anyone. If you're living in Germany in the 1930s, it probably isn't. But that's no consolation to Egon Loeser, whose carnal misfortunes will push him from the experimental theatres of Berlin to the absinthe bars of Paris to the physics laboratories of Los Angeles, trying all the while to solve two mysteries: whether it was really a deal with Satan that claimed the life of his hero and why a guy like him can't get himself laid.

A brilliant historical crime novel of Georgian London from the author of The Devil in the Marshalsea. Spring 1728. A young, well-dressed man is dragged through the streets of London to the gallows at Tyburn. The crowds jeer and curse as he passes, calling him a murderer. He tries to remain calm. His name is Tom Hawkins, and he is innocent. Somehow he has to prove it before the rope squeezes the life out of him.It is, of course, all his own fault.

1782. Nancy Lockaby is trying to salvage her reputation as an astronomer - left in tatters after a discredited discovery - when she receives a mysterious letter, inviting her to join Shakespeare scholar Caelan Malles at his crumbling house in Inverness. But at Blackthistle House, Nancy notices that Caelan is spending more and more time locked away in his study with his books. As his behaviour becomes ever stranger, more questions gnaw at Nancy. Why does Caelan believe there is a link between Shakespeare and the stars? Why does he refuse to discuss Charlotte, his now-deceased wife?

London, 1727 - and Tom Hawkins is about to fall from his heaven of card games, brothels, and coffeehouses to the hell of a debtors' prison. The Marshalsea is a savage world of its own, with simple rules: those with family or friends who can lend them a little money may survive in relative comfort. Those with none will starve in squalor and disease. And those who try to escape will suffer a gruesome fate at the hands of the gaol's rutheless governor and his cronies.

May 1940. With Nazi forces sweeping across France, invasion seems imminent. The English Channel has never felt so narrow. In rural Sussex, war veteran John Cook has been tasked with preparing the resistance effort, should the worst happen. But even as the foreign threat looms, it's rumours of a missing child that are troubling Cook. A 12-year-old girl was evacuated from London and never seen again, and she's just the tip of the iceberg - countless evacuees haven't made it to their host families. As Cook investigates, he uncovers a dark conspiracy that reaches to the highest ranks of society.

Britain's favourite gardener and TV presenter Alan Titchmarsh takes us to the scenic highlands of Scotland for his new tale of betrayal, mystery and romance. The author of eight bestselling novels including The Haunting and Folly, Titchmarsh's new multi-generational novel makes the perfect gift this Mother's Day. It seems a perfect afternoon in the Highlands. Standing at the door of the lochside castle that has been his family's home for generations, Charlie Stuart welcomes his guests to the annual summer drinks party.

Edinburgh, 1948. Welfare Officer Helen Crowther has enough on her plate between her hectic job, her complicated love life, and her growing reputation as a troublemaker. Last year's scandal did nothing to help with the disapproval she already gets as a woman in her line of work. All she wants now is to focus on doing what she loves: helping the poor of the Fountainbridge ward in the city of Edinburgh. The last thing she needs is another string of murders to distract her . . .

Inspired by the lost voices of the Romany Holocaust, this heartbreaking and tender novel will appeal to readers who loved Sophie's Choice, Schindler's Ark, and The Book Thief. "Remarkable - brave, big-hearted and beautifully written" (Andrew Miller, author of the Costa Award-winner PURE) Austria, 1944. Jakob, a gypsy boy - half Roma, halif Yenish - runs, as he has been told to do. With shoes of sackcloth, still stained with another's blood, a stone clutched in one hand, a small wooden box in the other.

Emperor Domitian is hosting a banquet for the senators in honour of fallen soldiers, and it's an invitation Aelianus and Justinus Camillus dare not refuse. On arrival, they enter a black-painted room furnished with couches resembling those found in mausoleums, complete with a tombstone bearing each of the senators' names. As the evening progresses the brothers conclude that Domitian has finally turned against them for their uncle's part in a plot to oust his father and start to wonder if they'll ever see the light of day again....

Following the Year of the Five Emperors, three are left in the field. A final bloody confrontation is inevitable as the ruthless Septimius Severus advances through Cappadocia and Cilicia on the heels of the retreating legions of the Emperor in the East, Percennius Niger. As Niger retreats towards the impregnable fortress of Antioch, thus threatening to extend the conflict for years to come, it falls to two veterans to plan a series of daring raids to delay the enemy. But it is not long before they are cornered on a climactic field of blood.

1846. Glasgow is a city on the cusp of great social change, but behind the curtains, neighbours are watching, and rumours of improper behaviour spread like wildfire on the respectable Blythswood Square. When Charlotte Nicholl discovers that the fortune she has been bequeathed by her father is tied up in a secret collection of erotic art, she is faced with a terrible dilemma: sell it and risk shaming her family's good name or lose her home.

Four novella-length stories written to illuminate Lindsey Davis's unparalleled output of the last 30 years, with an introduction written and narrated by the author.

Imperial agent Cassius Corbulo is about to go rogue. His bodyguard, Indavara, has been kidnapped and has seemingly vanished off the face of the earth. Having spent weeks trying to discover his fate, Cassius's time is up. But when an old ally's daughter is enslaved, he feels obliged to repay a long standing debt. Refusing the offer of a prestigious post, Cassius - and his Christian servant Simo - join nomadic chieftain Kabir and a trio of warriors, determined to rescue the missing girl.

EVERYONE IS GRIPPED BY STEPHEN RONSON!

A provocative thriller posing a dangerous question: what if federal income tax is illegal? The 16th Amendment to the Constitution legalized federal income tax, but what if there were problems with the 1913 ratification of that amendment? Problems that call into question decades of tax collecting and could even bring down the US economy?

Named after a star, war correspondent Maia knows how to find the brightest stories—the tales of survival and strength—hidden amongst the dark realities of combat. Now, travelling to Malta to visit her estranged father, with one more chance to build a relationship with her last remaining relative, she's here to find her own story: never having found somewhere—or someone—she can call home, she's desperate for answers that might show her where she truly belongs.

Will Bowman, now fully entangled in Richard Lionheart's crusade, has reached the Holy Land. However, just as he and his crew are about to touch down in Acre, they are drawn into an intense battle at sea, where they are faced with the dreaded Byzantine weapon: Greek Fire. Barely escaping with his life, Will gains the trust of Richard Lionheart, moving into his service. But as the siege of Acre continues, and Richard's campaign grows ever more brutal and barbaric, Will begins to wonder just how safe his new position is.

In the late August of AD 79, the inhabitants of Pompeii and Herculaneum are going about their normal business in the late summer heat. Two of them have a room share arrangement: Nonius, scrounger, thief and failed pimp works by night and sleeps by day; Larius, the fresco painter with dreams of artistic greatness, does the opposite. When just after midday the summit of Vesuvius disappears in a vast volcanic ash cloud, their lives will change forever.

George Hart just wants to serve his Queen and honour his family. It's not that simple. Bastard - He doesn't know his father, only that he's a pillar of the Establishment. His beloved mother is half Irish, half Zulu. Zulu: In a Victorian society rife with racism and prejudice, George's dark skin spells trouble to his regimental commander. Warrior: But George has soldiering in his blood - the only question is what he's really fighting for: ancestry or Empire. In the heat of battle he must decide....

Yorkshire, 1890. Having lost her father and brothers in tragic circumstances, Olwen Malkon is forced to leave her childhood home to live with her uncle's family. In his chill vicarage, however, she fears that she is also losing her mind, as strange dreams take her into the life of Ælfwyn, a woman from a distant past whose fate is overshadowed by menace and betrayal. In the grip of these afflictions, Olwen finds sympathy with the local doctor, John Osbourne, who is intrigued by her case.