Historical Novels Review Editors' Choice Titles

THE ASTONISHING LIFE OF OCTAVIAN NOTHING, TRAITOR TO THE NATION: Volume II, The Kingdom of the Waves
M. T. Anderson, Candlewick, 2008, $22.99/C$25.00/£12.99, hb, 561pp, 9780763629502
African-American youth Octavian escapes with his trusted tutor Doctor Trefusis from the eccentric Bostonian gentlemen who raised him as a comparative experiment between the European and African cultures. Octavian and the Doctor flee into British-controlled Boston at the start of the American Revolutionary conflict in 1775. A student of Greek, Latin, philosophy and an accomplished violinist, Octavian sustains himself and Doctor Trefusis by playing in the orchestra of one of the King’s regiments. In the pursuit of liberty, Octavian joins Virginia’s ousted Governor Lord Dunmore’s Royal Ethiopian Regiment, composed of runaway slaves and freedmen. Among these men, Octavian is called ‘Buckra’ for his ‘white’ manner of speaking and his education. A tale both of the coming of age and quest for liberty of this unique and noble black youth, and that of a conflicted new nation, Octavian Nothing, Volume II is a beautiful epic novel.
It is also an astonishing book filled with masterstrokes of language. Revolutionary America is stunningly depicted in Octavian’s firsthand account, letters and newspaper extracts (some actual contemporary documents), and diary entries. But this is not just a well-executed story; it’s also a novel that examines liberty in America and ‘the freedom —economic, social, and intellectual—enjoyed by the vocal and literate elite of the early Republic [that] would have been impossible if it had not been for the enslavement, displacement, and destruction of others’ (Author’s Note). The Kingdom of the Waves is marketed as a young adult novel, and if the novel gains a wide readership among young people—the book contains a great deal of fun and entertainment—then concerns about literacy among the young would appear to have little basis. Volume I of Octavian Nothing’s tale won several awards; Volume II richly deserves more such honors. -- Eva Ulett

INFINITY IN THE PALM OF HER HAND
Gioconda Belli (trans. Margaret Sayers Peden), HarperCollins, 2009, $23.95/C$28.95, hb, 244pp, 9780061673641.
    Gioconda Belli’s daring feat of climbing inside the world of Adam and Eve, from their creation through the fall and toward a dawn of civilization, makes an extraordinary read. Her roots as a poet are amply evident, even in translation, as she constructs a Blakean idyll that is both nostalgic and horrifying. She makes Adam and Eve into real characters nonetheless, and deals with the issue of primacy between them and their roles in the fall very imaginatively.
    One of her most seductive characters is the serpent, who is not cast as completely evil, and who is Eve’s window into the invisible God who created their paradise and then flung them out of it—because Eve ate of the tree of knowledge. No apples here, just figs.
    Time is compressed in this slim volume, which takes us all the way to Cain’s slaying of Abel. The rich language is never ponderous, and despite the fact that we all know what happens, Belli keeps us engaged in her story, using words like a magical slide that, once you begin the descent, will not let you off until it ends.
    Most fascinating to me is the way she neatly leads us from the Creationist view of the origin of mankind to a place where the door to Darwinism is wide open. This fast, delicious book is a highly recommended read.
-- Susanne Dunlap

DRAGONFLIES: A Novel
Grant Buday, Biblioasis, 2008, C$19.99/$18.95, pb, 166pp, 9781897231470
    The ancient Greeks were masters of the written word. From Homer, to Euripides, to Thucydides, their stories of human pathos pulse with a power that, on the whole, is unparalleled in modern literature. A recent resurgence of popular interest in The Iliad, Homer’s epic poem about the Trojan War, has led many writers to try their hand at retelling some portion of the story. Buday may not be the first, but he is definitely one of the best.
    When Dragonflies begins, ten years have passed since Paris “…arrived in Sparta wearing an indigo robe trimmed with pearl, crocodile sandals with gold clasps, his hair perfect, while all Helen had to look forward to was cotton dyed in onion skin. So off she went, taking half the treasury with her.” Hector and Achilles are dead, and the Greeks have splintered into factions that hate each other more than they hate the Trojans. Desperate to achieve his dream of conquering Troy, Agamemnon asks Odysseus to devise a plan of victory.
    This first-person account of the final weeks of the Trojan War is written in Odysseus’s voice. Filled with longing for his wife and son, Odysseus takes a paternal interest in the welfare of his two young servants, Sinon and Dercynus, but once he conceives the plan for the gigantic wooden horse with its bellyful of soldiers, the fate of both boys becomes entwined with his own. Although Buday adds his own variations to the story, he holds true to the emotional power of the original. Here on the field beneath the walls of Troy are gathered warriors, commanders, and kings whose pride and stubbornness affect all. Violence and hope mingle. Troy falls. The gods laugh. And Homer smiles with delight. Highly recommended for anyone with a passion for the ancient world.
-- Nancy J. Attwell

AGINCOURT (US) / AZINCOURT (UK/Canada)
Bernard Cornwell, HarperCollins, 2009, $27.95, hb, 464pp, 9780061578916 / HarperCollins, 2008, £18.99/C$29.95, hb, 464pp, 9780007271214
    Agincourt is a stunning ride through the battle best known from Shakespeare’s Henry V. Through the eyes of archer Nicholas Hook, I was entrapped at the siege of Harfleur; I marched relentlessly, cold and hungry, across France as I was chased doggedly by the French army; I shot arrows skillfully at a legion said to be almost five times larger than mine. I experienced the worst in men and trembled as hard decisions were made about my future without my consent. After turning the last page, I was exhausted yet exhilarated, much as Hook and his lord felt after their unlikely triumph.
    As the book opens, Hook is outlawed from England after striking a priest; he heads to France to try out his archery skills and ends up a fugitive in the attack on Soissons. From there, he returns to England, where Henry V assigns him to Sir John Cornewaille’s men. Under Sir John’s instruction, Hook accompanies Henry’s army back into France with the plan to use Henry’s birthright to seize the throne. Trapped at Agincourt, the vastly outnumbered English must employ their archers to lead to an improbable victory. Threaded neatly throughout is Hook’s ability to “hear” the voice of St. Crispinian in his head; Hook comes to rely on his patron to guide him in his uncertainty.
    Agincourt is filled with blood, gore, and treachery, and Cornwell gives a human face to the suffering through Hook’s travails as well as those of his army. The characters are vivid, and the gusto of Sir John is particularly rousing. Cornwell has a gift for bringing the past to life, and this is without a doubt his finest work to date. I emerged broken, beaten, restored, and victorious as I closed the final page, and that is a testament to Cornwell’s skill.
-- Tamela McCann

    From the dramatic opening sentence to the epilogue, Bernard Cornwell takes us on another page-turning adventure as we follow the life of skilled archer, Nicholas Hook. The year is 1413 and Nick is from a simple home, unloved by his superstitious grandmother; his life has been dogged by a feud and tragedy. Nick is a survivor; strong and determined, he becomes an outlaw. In a place called Soissons, he witnesses the atrocities committed by the French on their own countrymen as well as the torture of his fellow archers. Nick responds to the voice of saints, is hunted, yet manages to rescue a novice, Melisande, by killing a knight. When the army tries to take the defiant town of Harfleur, precious time is lost and Henry V’s army is weakened by sickness.
    The research throughout is meticulous; the reader has an instant feel for what life was like. The brutality and gore are vividly and honestly described.
The battle of Agincourt (Azincourt is the French spelling) was fought in horrendous conditions mainly caused by the wet weather, the lack of French leadership and the presence of the strong, longbow archers that were feared by the enemy. Nick is a worthy hero, not born to privilege, making his reputation and achieving advancement by his battle sense and skill. This novel is more than an adventure. Throughout, both priests and lords are shown in their many facets; some good, some not so good, some bad and occasionally some capable of great evil. Like the violence, the motives of men of power are exposed when the end justifies the means; for God, country or honour. In the epilogue, there is a poignant scene between Hook and Father Christopher when discussing a priest who has kept his faith true to Christ.
    This is Agincourt, Cornwell style, packed with adventure, drama, detail and utterly believable—highly recommended. -- Valerie Loh

THE UNICORN ROAD
Martin Davies, Hodder & Stoughton, 2009, £12.99, hb, 327pp, 9780340896341
On the coast of medieval Sicily an expedition, led by the scholar Antioch, sets sail for the East to seek out the wondrous beasts contained in an exquisite bestiary. A page, Benedict, the formidable General Decius, and the renowned translator, Venn, are amongst the travellers. Decius has his own agenda, one linked to the fate of the Cathars in France. Venn’s skills as a linguist are put to the ultimate test in China where he discovers a trail of messages written in a secret language shared only by women. His fate becomes entangled with that of Ming Yeuh, a young girl, who travels to the Emperor’s court to marry a warrior. When he fails to return, Benedict is sought by his father. Through his father’s narrative many of the novel’s themes and the characters’ true motives are revealed.
This is a remarkable novel which deserves to be shortlisted in 2009 for a serious prize. Davies’ prose is poetic and erudite, his plotting superb, the narrative gripping, and, above all, The Unicorn Road contains memorable characters the reader will find intriguing. Finally, the book has a moral integrity. It is set against a background of great power struggles which are repeated in our own times, but there is also the inspiration for the novel: the death of one of the last surviving users of nushi, a secret language passed down through generations of Chinese women. -- Carol McGrath

APOLOGY FOR THE WOMAN WRITING
Jenny Diski, Virago, 2008, £16.99, hb, 282pp, 9781844083855
    France in the 16th century. Marie de Gournay is a self-educated “difficult” child whose life is centred in her dead father’s library in Picardy. An uncle gives her a copy of Michel de Montaigne’s Essays, and Marie is besotted with the book and the author’s elegant expression and direct narrative voice. She engineers a meeting with her hero and inveigles him into adopting her as his literary helpmate, although for Montaigne it is more of way of extricating himself from an awkward position. Nevertheless, Marie thus achieves her ambition and becomes involved in assisting Montaigne with producing further editions of his Essays. Marie’s belief in her own literary abilities are shared by no-one else though, including, crucially and unknown to Marie, Montaigne.
    Following her mentor’s death, Marie appoints herself as the guardian of his literary reputation and for the reminder of her life as a confirmed spinster, she constantly campaigns to achieve acceptance as a one of a then almost-unknown species—a woman of letters of non-noble birth. The problem is Marie constantly overestimates her own literary abilities and thus becomes a figure of fun, even into her old age, in the demanding and competitively cruel, predominantly masculine cultural world of Paris in the early 17th century. Her only constant companion is her servant of 45 years, Nicole Jermyn, who watches by the bedside of Marie as death approaches.
    This is a highly literary and engaging novel that is firmly set in the world of literature, of writing and reading. It is also a tale of obsession and self-duplicity, as well as having a feminist trope that demonstrates the difficulties women faced in having any sort of independence or a chosen career. Marie de Gournay was a real person, and thus the essential structure is based on historical events, but as Jenny Diski admits in a suffix, there is much that has to be invented to make the book work as fiction. This is a thought-provoking, strikingly original and superbly narrated novel. -- Doug Kemp

THE ELEVENTH MAN
Ivan Doig, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2008, $26 hb, 426pp, 9780151012435
    In 1941, the Montana State College starting eleven all entered into military service. Each lost his life in that great effort. This is the spark that kindled Ivan Doig’s The Eleventh Man, an unforgettable saga that makes you wonder all over again at the vagaries of human nature.
    The “eleventh man” is Bill Reinking, former left end and captain of Treasure State University’s 1941 undefeated “Supreme Team.” After Pearl Harbor the Supreme Team eleven answered the call to arms. Just as Reinking is about to earn his pilot’s wings, he is yanked from training and given a set of unexpected and unwelcome orders. He is to function as war correspondent for the military’s civilian information service. His assignment is to track the Supreme Team through the war, reporting on each man’s missions in the service of his country. He is told that the odds are that all but two of his teammates will make it.
    The team soon meets its mortality quota, and Reinking realizes that some of the players are on far more dangerous fields than others. Tension builds as he sees more than the hand of fate remaking them into a Supreme Sacrifice Team. The climax is bittersweet, believable and sadly satisfying.
    Riveting only begins to describe the war scenes from Guam to Antwerp and the all-too-human dramas of family, lovers, and friends. Doig’s narrative is as varied as the landscapes he describes—rugged and forceful, tender, lyrical at times.  The Eleventh Man is a virtuoso performance. The story is rich in historical data, much of it new in World War II fiction. And for bibliophiles, the publisher’s quality binding and paper are a pleasure to handle. In every category this is a first-rate book. -- Lucille Cormier

THE KING’S GRACE
Anne Easter Smith, Touchstone, 2009, $16.99, pb, 608pp, 9781416550457
    Grace Plantagenet is a bastard child of King Edward IV and, after his death, finds her way to the household of Edward’s wife, Elizabeth Woodville, to be incorporated into the family with all the good—and bad—that entails. How just plain Grace blossoms into the Lady Grace is a beautiful, often moving and extremely satisfying journey.
    Rather than being treated as another royal by-blow, Grace is taken under her stepmother’s wing and is given the same benefits, advice and love that her other siblings receive. In return, Grace stands firm by Elizabeth Woodville until her end. She and her sisters, primarily Bess and Cecily, form a fast and unbreakable bond. But more even than her loyalty, Grace’s intuitiveness and “street smarts” stand her in remarkable stead, most especially with the overriding passion of her early life, John Plantagenet, Richard III’s bastard son by Kate Haute (see the author’s A Rose for a Crown) and, later, with the pretender, Perkin Warbeck.
    This expansive novel is, after all, particularly about Perkin, the story of whom is brilliantly interwoven with Grace’s own. Indeed, Grace is both the eyes and ears of the Tudor court and that of the surviving Yorkists, who hope to overthrow Henry VII.
    I have read—and reviewed—all of Easter Smith’s novels, of which this is third. Although I have enjoyed each offering immensely, this one is the richest, most engrossing tapestry of royal life. Easter Smith has the ability to grab you, sweep you along with the story and make you fall in love with the characters. She has managed to take one fleeting historical reference to a Grace Plantagenet and spin a glorious tale based upon fact and pure imagination.
You know you have loved a book when you’re sad it ends. I cannot recommend it enough—and it is absolutely a wonderful winter read! -- Ilysa Magnus

RESTITUTION
Eliza Graham, Macmillan New Writing, 2008, £14.99/C$24.95, 393pp, 9780230709133
    In January 2006 Alix is tracked down by her birth son, Michael. He asks the question she has long dreaded: ‘who is my father?’ The answer is simple and yet so complicated—he was her most feared, most adored enemy. Rewind the clock to 1945, and Alix’s story begins with her flight from the Red onslaught which is brought harrowingly to life. Death and fear stalk the pages and her meeting with old sweetheart, Gregor, is fraught with mistrust and passion.
    Rewind to 1939, and part-Jewish Gregor has his own story to tell—again confused by betrayal and fear—as he and his mother flee from Nazi aggression and try to find a place to call home.
    Interspersed between Alix and Gregor’s stories are those of their parents and friends. But for Alix and Gregor, the truth behind their encounter in 1945—and the puzzles it created—will only be understood after the passage of sixty years.
    At the heart of Restitution is the belief that corruption, hatred and fear cannot destroy love and hope, and that acts of kindness can take place even in the most appalling conditions. It is unusual to read a book written from the German point of view, showing many everyday Germans in a favourable light. It also focuses on the harsh treatment of German women by the Soviet army, a subject that many readers may not be familiar with. For all these reasons it is well worth reading, and I cannot recommend it highly enough. -- Sara Wilson

WHERE SERPENTS SLEEP
C. S. Harris, Obsidian, 2008, $23.95, hb, 342pp, 9780451225122
    Set in a grim version of Regency London, this fourth outing for Sebastian St. Cyr has him teamed up, almost against his will, with the daughter of his archrival, Lord Jarvis. Soon the reform-minded Hero leads him on a labyrinthine path to discover the perpetrator behind a brutal killing of eight prostitutes in a Quaker house of refuge.
    Still reeling from being parted from his lover and seething with resentment against his father, the troubled hero still exudes both honor and courage as he wanders though places like Seething Lane, a leper graveyard under St. James Park, and a brothel called “The Academy” (whose owner paints sun-dappled churches and nude women in his spare time), with Hero as a formidable ally.
    With short, clipped chapters, Harris weaves her spell in a richly imagined, atmospheric world. The plot and characterizations are complex and rewarding, and the ending left this reader breathlessly awaiting the next installment from this gifted storyteller. Highly recommended. -- Eileen Charbonneau

BLINDSPOT: By a Gentleman in Exile and a Lady in Disguise
Jane Kamensky and Jill Lepore, Spiegel & Grau, 2008, $24.95/C$27.95, hb, 600pp, 9780385526197
    Academics Kamensky and Lepore have produced a deliciously entertaining novel of pre-Revolutionary Boston. By turns bawdy, poignant, satirical, and patriotic, it is an energetic and enlightening story. Not only is painter Stewart Jameson in debt to an enemy, he’s desperate to find his friend, the brilliant Dr. Alexander—a freed black transported to America and enslaved.
    Jameson arrives as Massachusetts is erupting with frustration at British rule, and promotes himself as a face-painter. Miss Fanny Easton, daughter of a wealthy and prominent colonial, was cast off after bearing her drawing master’s illegitimate child. Disguising herself as a lad, re-naming herself Francis Weston, she becomes Jameson’s apprentice, astonishing him with her drawing and painting skills and inspiring a passionate affection that he dreads but does not deny. In letters to her confidante, she frankly reveals her feelings for her master and the hazards of her all-too-successful impersonation of a young man.
    The couple’s solvency seems assured as Boston’s prominent residents line up to have their portraits painted, but when the most prominent of all is murdered they unite to find the culprit. In the process, Fanny makes certain unsavory discoveries about her parent and her past, while Jameson must contend with an altered and decidedly damaged Dr. Alexander, determined to use his superior intellect to solve the crime. For his apprentice’s sake, and his own, he also resolves to pack Easton off to London to study with the great Joshua Reynolds.
    In creating this graphic and vivid version of colonial Boston—people, professions, politics—the authors have also provided lovers of historical fiction with a highly entertaining story, brimming with style and substance. A rollicking good read! -- Margaret Barr

SCARLET
Stephen Lawhead, Thomas Nelson, 2008, $15.99, pb, 443pp, 9781595540898
    In the second book of his King Raven trilogy Stephen Lawhead continues his re-imagination of the Robin Hood legend as mythic Welsh adventure, this time from Will Scarlet’s point of view. William Scathelocke, a half-Welsh half-Saxon forester, loses his home and livelihood when an invading Norman baron kills his Saxon liege. Homeless, without family, and in a mind for revenge, Will heads for the land of his mother's birth, where word is spreading that an otherworldly hero known as King Raven is leading a last stand against Norman encroachment. What Will finds is a band of feisty forest dwellers led by a man named Rhi Bran y Hud, a displaced Welsh lord seeking to reclaim his stolen kingdom and his people’s independence by any means necessary. In Bran's company Will finds friendship, love, and a cause worth fighting—and likely dying—to win. But in Will's mind, death is a small price to pay for the chance to live such an adventure.
    Relocating the Robin Hood legend from the shires of Richard the Lionheart to the Welsh forests of a century prior lends a mysterious, fantastical element to the adventure; the Celtic names and tinge of magic only enhance the feeling. Frequent switching between Will's memoir and a third-person narrator takes some getting used to, but the prose is so natural and the pace so taut that the pages turn themselves. Scarlet stands alone as its own story, but after reading it, you'll want to get your hands on the other two titles. I know I did. Very highly recommended. -- Heather Domin

THE VAGRANTS
Yiyun Li, Random House, 2009, $25.00, hb, 352pp, 9781400063130 / Fourth Estate, 2009, £12.99, hb, 352pp, 9780007196647
    “If you look at history, as no one in this country does anymore, a martyr has always served the purpose of deception on a grand scale, be it a religion or an ideology,” thinks Teacher Gu in an imaginary dialogue with his first ex-wife. This inner dialogue follows his daughter’s execution as a counterrevolutionary on the spring equinox, March 21, 1979. The story about Gu Shan’s demise doesn’t hold back the horrific details or its fragile, tender moments, binding together a motley group of characters into a solidified reactionary force protesting tyranny and mourning the loss of more than a person. The reader sees how the crippled girl Nini has been connected to Gu Shan and what the latter’s death means to Nini’s satisfied parents. The tension increases with the questionable actions of Bashi, who seeks a child-bride but is also capable of unspeakable cruelty. Tong, a seven-year-old boy, carefully observes his mother following through on her determined words, “A thousand grains of sand can make a tower.” Finally, we watch Kai, a young woman married to a politically connected, successful man, who evolves from a government announcer parroting Communist party propaganda to a reactionary force willing to risk literally everything.
    The Vagrants isn’t a typical story depicting Chinese history but a testament to loyalty to higher, democratic ideals. Yiyun Li’s first novel introduces a powerful, literary author who has crafted her story with carefully placed metaphors, reflections, storyline twists and turns, and vibrant characters the reader comes to deeply respect and honor. The Chinese history may be familiar, but Yiyun Li’s exquisite writing style is one of the most extraordinary this reviewer has read in a long time. Don’t miss it.
-- Viviane Crystal

LUTHER’S AMBASSADORS
Jay Margrave, Goldenford, 2008, £8.99, pb, 286pp, 9780955941504
    In the second of Margrave’s “mystorical” novels Tom Priedeux jumps from 1399, where we left him in The Gawain Quest, to the reign of Henry VIII. The book opens at the French court where Anne Boleyn is the youngest lady-in-waiting to Henry’s sister, Queen Mary of France, the new wife of Louis XII. While still in her teens, Anne burns with ambition to reform the church in England and to allow the people to read the Bible in their own language. It is here, at the French court, that she befriends Jean Dinteville and George de Selve—who later feature in Holbein’s painting—as well as Stefano, their Italian companion who disappears so mysteriously.
    Once Anne has been summoned back to England, Tom Priedeux, a family servant, becomes her trusted messenger. The bond between them is cemented by their affection for Mother Muncy, their wet nurse. Surrounded by growing intrigue and danger at the Tudor court, Tom protects his mistress from her impetuosity and ambition—and teaches her never to leave written evidence. Tom has another mission: to trace his own family, a subplot that is convincingly woven into the well-known political events of the period.
    Margrave was inspired to write the book after visiting an exhibition where she became intrigued by Holbein’s extraordinary painting of two French ambassadors separated by a skull, which appears as an anamorphic image in the foreground. The author has devised an intriguing plot, told around the familiar events of Anne’s life up to the birth of her daughter, but stopping short of her execution. Convincing detail and, above all, an emphasis on the importance of religion in the struggle for power and influence make this a compelling read. Margrave also weaves various disputed facts about Anne into the story, including her extra finger and the unknown date of her birth which led to rumours about her actual age and real parentage. As for the painting, the book offers an imaginative solution to the identity of the anonymous patron.  -- Lucinda Byatt

THE LOST ARMY
Valerio Massimo Manfredi (trans. Christine Feddersen-Manfredi), Macmillan, 2008, £10.00, hb, 416pp, 9780230530676
    The Lost Army is the story of 10,000 Greek soldiers who are spearheading an attack on the Persian king, Artaxerxes, by his brother, Cyrus, who wishes to usurp his brother’s throne. Ostensibly mercenaries, the soldiers are actually recruited and unofficially supported by the Spartan government who, although supposedly allies of Ataxerxes, are looking to promote their own strategic agenda by backing both sides. Unfortunately, the plan goes awry and Cyrus is defeated and killed. Although the battle is lost, the Spartan army is still a cohesive force, and their commanders decide to fight their way through Persian lands back to Greece.
    The story is told from the point of view of Abira, a young woman, and is based on one of the most famous works of Greek literature, the Anabasis. The research and attention to detail are faultless. The principal characters spring from the pages with vigour and life while the reality of life for the Greek soldiers as they struggle to survive against all the odds makes for breathtaking reading. Fans of Valerio Manfredi will already have devoured this book. If you are not familiar with his work then this is the book for you. Highly recommended.
-- Mike Ashworth

NOR THE BATTLE TO THE STRONG
Charles F. Price, Frederic C. Beil, 2008, $25.95, hb, 464pp, 9781929490332
    This novel of the American Revolution in the South is told from the contrasting viewpoints of Major General Nathanial Greene and Private James Johnson, a Scottish immigrant and runaway indentured servant. Their lives are both leading toward the 1781 Battle of Eutaw Springs, one of the bloodiest actions of the war.
    The men are a study in opposites: Greene is highly educated, Quaker-bred and asthmatic, a plodder pouring over military texts and as quietly eager for fame as the more conspicuous Lighthorse Harry Lee, the beloved thorn in his side. Private Johnson comes with a sprightly sister in tow and is humble, resilient, and un-self-conscious, an American Candide on the adventure of his young life. But Johnson has his decency forever corroded by the brutality that marked the war even as he faces a future as a free American.
    Nor the Battle to the Strong is a treasure trove of detail (Baron Steuben smells of roses and cloves), vivid characterization, and hard truths about the nature of warfare. It does not shy away from the prejudices that marked the time, and comes with illustrations and maps that are skillfully rendered. Highly recommended. -- Eileen Charbonneau

DARKNESS RISING
Frank Tallis, Century, 2009, £12.99, hb, 391pp, 9781846053603.
    If we talked about historical novels like a pâtissier then amongst the rich and deeply satisfying tortes would be the novels by C. J. Sansom, Anne Perry, John Biggins and Frank Tallis. Not only do these authors take the reader into a historical world which is convincingly real, they have the skills to make the reader believe their fiction is actually history.
    Darkness Rising is the fourth novel involving the Viennese doctor, psychoanalyst Max Liebermann. It is 1903. Vienna is beginning to promote and support pro-German, anti-Semite views, so when first a monk and then a city councillor, both aggressively anti-Semite, are discovered outside churches, with their heads torn off, the radical Hasidic Jews are suspects. But there are certain strange aspects to the killings which make Detective Inspector Rheindhart ask his friend, Max, for help.
    Complexities arise as Max is forced to re-examine his Jewishness, outface racist city councillors, keep his job at the hospital, where prejudiced people want him out, and be a good psychoanalyst. This and the relationships between both major and minor characters, the little episodes where their lives are disclosed, make for compelling reading. Tallis’s Vienna is a character in its own right: tangible, you can see, hear, smell and, of course, taste those delicious Viennese pastries that Tallis’s characters eat with relish. Presented through the music, buildings, and even the lectures of Freud, intelligently discussed by Max, Tallis’s Vienna exists. This writer not only writes well, he researches thoroughly.
    Readers who love to be transported in time to another period and place will want to read all four novels. I certainly do. -- pdr lindsay-salmon

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