Allison: 698 books

Justinian desperately wants the lost provinces returned to his rule but must first dispatch his brave general, Belisaurius to fight the Persians in the East. Justinian grows concerned that Belisaurius will grow successful and courageous in his feats, thus becoming a threat to his power and person....

As heard on BBC Radio 4's Book of the Week ‘There is always in our minds the hope that we may find again those golden unhastening days and wake up and dream’ In this beautifully nostalgic memoir, eminent author Angela Thirkell recalls in rich detail the three houses in which she...

Cambridge, 1898. When the unidentified body of a young woman is found floating in the River Cam, journalist Patrick O’Sullivan calls on one woman he is sure will solve the mystery: Mrs Vanessa Weatherburn. Vanessa agrees to take up the challenge, but, with a victim as well as a murderer to identify,...

1901, Wiltshire. Young Kathleen Keller is being forced into marriage by her cruel father, with a man she despises. In an act of desperation, she runs away in a bid for a safer life, although one she might not have otherwise chosen. But when tragedy strikes, Kathleen is left vulnerable and one man...

Frustrated with the sheer ennui of London life and looking for fresh excitement, Anthony Anstruther and his girlfriend leave a nightclub to find a drunken Russian tramp playing noughts and crosses in chalk on Anthony’s car. This seemingly innocent enterprise spurs on a chain of events involving...

Sinister secrets are revealed in a sleepy village Thea Osborne’s latest house-sitting assignment is a little different to the rest. She finds herself in the village of Chedworth making an inventory of Rita Wilshire’s possessions after she has moved into a care home. All goes to plan, with...

‘A clever plot, with lots of laughs along the way’ Daily Mail Robin Pagham is dead – drowned in a sailing accident. Everyone’s reaction is that he must have been drunk, after all, that was what he did best. But while attending Robin’s funeral, crime writer Ethelred Tressider sees...

North West India, July 1897. Simon and Alice Fonthill are travelling with their old friend Jenkins to Marden, India for a 50th anniversary party with the Guides Corps. What begins as a peaceful journey becomes a dangerous battle as they find themselves ambushed by four Pathans. On arrival at Marden,...

The British Empire has reached its probable apogee: so much of the world map is coloured red and the sun never set on its boundaries. But Lord Curzon, the ambitious Viceroy of India, has different views. Tibet, the mountainous region on the Raj’s borders, irritates him: the Dalai Lama never replies...

The year is 1900 and China is once again plunged into barbaric chaos. The Boxers, a cult of young peasants who blame the foreign barbarians living in their country – particularly the missionaries – for the nation’s ills, are rampaging through the country, killing any foreigners. China’s Dowager...

September, 1914. The First World War has already broken out on the Western Front. Thousands of miles away, on the border between Northern Rhodesia and German East Africa, Simon Fonthill is preparing for battle alongside his faithful companion ‘352’ Jenkins and his reliable tracker, Mzingeli. As...

Captain Daniel Rawson — Adventurer, spy, charmer... It is 1704 and Europe is at war ‘Take this sword as you own and wear it with more honour than the man from whom you took it’ With Lord Churchill’s words ringing in his ears, the courageous young Captain Daniel Rawson...

It is 1709, and Europe is in the midst of the coldest winter for a century. France is suffering profoundly: with her people starving and her army rattled by mutiny and desertions, King Louis XIV is at The Hague, searching for peace with the English on almost any terms. To assist these negotiations,...

SOLDIER OF FORTUNE CAPTAIN DANIEL RAWSON FACES HIS TOUGHEST BATTLE YET Despite winning a resounding victory at the battle of Oudenarde, the Duke of Marlborough finds his position as captain-general threatened by political enemies back in England, and his campaign to strike deeper into French...