Bryn Hammond: 16 books

A case study in the craft of historical fiction. My experience, as a novelist, between the primary sources and the historians. This essay is both an interpretation of The Secret History of the Mongols, and a commentary on one creative writer’s interactions with the body of secondary work on this...

The story of the first great tank battle, and the genesis of one of the most formidable weapons of the twentieth century. Cambrai was the last - and most influential - battle fought by the British on the Western Front in 1917. With many of the Allies on the brink of collapse, only Britain was...

In the steppes of High Asia, the year 1188… ‘Jamuqa rode his trophy mare, off-white, black-pointed, on a Tartar seat, high arches of ornamental silver fore and aft. He wore a winterfur of snow leopard, near white with black whorls. The effect was kingly and fantastic: he might be Irle Khan...

In the steppes of High Asia, the year 1166… ‘What is a Mongol? – As free as the geese in the air, as in unison. The flights of the geese promise us we don’t give up independence, to unite.’ The hundred tribes of the Mongols have come together with one aim: to push back against...

'Mother Hoelun was never ashamed or embarrassed by their hardships. When Jochi wore a dog’s pelt for a cloak, because they had no fleeces and no felt and had to trade for hides and dog was cheap, none of the children felt a sense of indignity. Indignity was alien to her.' The Mongols are...

Is he Saint Tchingis? Has he grown a monster? Perceptions differ. From the arse end of the steppe, out of nowhere, now he towers over other kings. The other kings club together, as he threatens the very idea of aristocracy, in a last stand of the steppe against Tchingis. Where does old Toghrul...

‘Jamuqa had witnessed, aged fifteen, his tribe strung up on trees. Perhaps you have to go one further.’ Jamuqa is mad, and commits an atrocity in challenge of Temujin. His actions – that might have more to do with how he feels about his oath-brother – plunge the Mongols into intertribal...

“Imagine you had a prophecy you’re the advent of the Promised One, the Right Guide and the Champion of Light. You’d believe that, right? And if you didn’t, you’d love to meet people who do.” Temujin has an awkward time with the prophecy about him and he’s happy to remain unknown....

Ten authors, twelve extraordinary stories. From a novel solution to the Plantagenet succession crisis to revelations about the private lives of Prince Hal and – separately! – Brutus and Cassius, plus a surprise ending for Twelfth Night, no play is safe. We have marriage proposals and murder; subtle...

Before the Battle of El Alamein in 1942, the British had never won a major battle on land against the Germans; nor indeed had anyone else. Drawing on a remarkable array of first-hand accounts, this book reveals the personal experiences of those on the frontline and provides fascinating details of...

Bryn Curt James Hammond found himself alone for the first time in 2011 after a relationship break-up that left him homeless and in emergency accommodation. He wasn’t at all skilled in the kitchen and didn’t even know how to boil an egg, but after finding himself knee deep in the real world and...

On December 20, 2009 paramedics responded to a call from the West Hollywood home of Brittany Murphy, which she shared with Simon Monjack and mother Sharon Murphy. Murphy’s body was limp and slumped on the tiled floor of the bathroom.Her lips were now a deathly blue, her eyelids had lost their tension,...

Aaliyah's sun-drenched body writhed like a serpent on the sandy beach in the Bahamas, her eyes teasing the lens as she moved in time to the hypnotic rhythms. Only hours later Aaliyah and nine others would be dead, but not before she left her indelible imprint in the sand and on the music industry....

A Case for Murder: Anna Nicole Smith Files takes a long hard look at the Hollywood system and how it can make and break a star with one throw of the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino dice. The gambling table may be alluring when you see that all that lies between you and death is your soul but are...