Search Results: Historical fiction from Ariadne Books

London: Grub Street, 2001. New edition, 2001. Originally published as 'Anatomy of a Battle' by Stein and Day, 1974. Hardback. xii, 204pp. Dust jacket. Normandy, July 28, 1944. Outside Caen, the Americans have broken through the German defences. Six stalemated British divisions redep;oy to join the attack. In order to show the true nature of combat, the author has related authentic incidents played out by participants who have remained fictitious to protect the memory of the living and the dead. Ken Macksey weaves a terrific story using all his experience and the result, part fact, part fiction is a unique and brilliant insight into what really happens in the life and death of warfare. Book in very good condition with little sign of use. Dust jacket very good and unclipped. Very minor edge wear and some light spotting to text block edges.

London: Two Roads, 2016. First edition, 2016. Signed by the author to the title page. Hardback. 350pp. Dust jacket. A vivid and surprising tale, 'The Butcher's Hook' brims with the colour and atmosphere of Georgian London, as seen through the eyes of a strange and memorable young woman. Book in near fine condition and unread. Dust jacket near fine and unclipped.

London: Allison & Busby, 2002. First edition, 2002. Signed by the author to the title page. Hardback. 286pp. Dust jacket. Apothecary John Rawlings sets out to investigate another mystery. Despite the fact that his wife Emilia is expecting their first baby, he is soon drawn into a very intriguing situation. And it seems that children might in fact be the key to unlocking the puzzle... Book in near fine condition and appears to be unread. Dust jacket near fine and unclipped.

London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1996. First edition, 1996. Signed by the author to the title page. Hardback. 310pp. Dust jacket. A John rawlings mystery. The lively young apothecary and London's brilliant magistrate, John Fielding, known as the Blind Beak, combine their complementary talents once more to solve this intriguing case. Book in near fine condition. A little toning to the page edges. Dust jacket very good and unclipped. Small closed tear to upper edge of rear and a little light edge wear.

London: Hodder & Stoughton, 2000. First edition, 2000. Signed by the author to the title page. Hardback. 312pp. Dust jacket. John Rawlings, London's effervescent 18th Century apothecary and occasional sleuth tackles another intriguing case. Book in very good condition. Just a little toning to the paper. Dust jacket near fine and unclipped.

London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1995. First edition, 1995. Signed by the author to the title page with a gift dedication to her nieces. Hardback. 248pp. Dustjacket. A John Rawlings mystery. A tale of jealousy which leads to the dark heart of a cold blooded murderer. Book in very good condition. Some light toning to the page edges. Pressure indentation to boards adjacent to hinge - most likely a binding fault rather than subsequent damage. Dust jacket near fine and unclipped.

London: Allison & Busby, 2003. First edition, 2003. Signed by the author to the title page and dated 9th July 2003. Hardback. 282pp. Dust jacket. This is the ninth novel in Deryn Lake's highly acclaimed Georgian mystery series featuring sleuthing apothecary, John Rawlings. Based on the real life historical apothecary who invented carbonated water in England. Other characters featured include John Fielding, the Blind Beak of London who founded the Runners (later to become the Bow Street Runners) and his assistant Joe Jago. Book in near fine condition. Very faint toning around the page edges. Dust jacket near fine and unclipped.

London: Headline, 1999. First edition, 1999. Signed by the author to the title page. Hardback. 274pp. Dust jacket in a protective sleeve. Henry Beaumont, constable of Warwick castle, keeps a renowned pack of fox hounds: quick, brave and ruthless at the kill, just like their master. Yet one December hunt turns up a very different fox, when, to the horror of the riders, the dogs uncover a corpse in the woodlands - the crushed body of Martin Reynard, reeve of the neighbouring estate of the old Saxon thane, Thorkell, and a former member of Beaumont's own household. Enraged, Henry swears to find the killer. By chance, justice is already on the way in the form of Domesday Commissioners Ralph Delchard and Gervase Bret, sent to adjudicate land disputes in the Warwick area. To their minds, the man Henry has arrested seems an unlikely villain. Boio, Thorkell's blacksmith, is bear-like but gentle and kind. With no evidence how can Henry be so adamant about Boio's guilt? With Beaumont braying for… Read More

London: Headline, 1997. First edition, 1997. Signed by the author to the title page. Hardback. 246pp. Dust jacket in a protective sleeve. Hugh Lupus, Earl of Chester, leads a hunting party into the Forest of Delamere. He is anxious to demonstrate the superiority of his hawk, which he boasts, has the same predatory instincts as its master. But as the bird hovers it is pierced by an arrow and falls to the ground. The ensuing search for the perpetrator of this heinous crime yields two poachers and the enraged Earl orders their immediate execution. But who is the hooded figure that flees deep into the forest? And who is the hidden witness, crouching petrified but undetected? Meanwhile Ralph Delchard and Gervase Bret, Domesday Commissioners, have been summoned from Winchester to settle a series of disputes between the Church and the State and are to be guests of the Earl during their stay. They need to discover why Idwal, the over-zealous Welsh churchman is hiding the true reason for his visit to the city… Read More

London: Headline, 1996. First edition, 1996. Signed to the title page by the author. There is also a gift dedication and date in a different hand. Hardback. 309pp. Dust jacket in a protective sleeve. York, 1087. Under cover of night two men approach the castle. They scale the wall of the bailey, then one approaches his long-awaited goal. A hideous roar stops him and, from out of the darkness, something pulls him to the ground. His companion escapes but the other intruder is never seen alive again. Domesday Commissioneres Ralph Delchard and Gervase Bret are called to York to investigate a land dispute. On the way they are attacked and robbed by outlaws. They are eventually welcomed to York by an old friend of Ralph and owner of the castle who introduces the travellers to his two lions, Romulus and Remus. But, as they oversee the land dispute, Ralph and Gervase find themselves distracted by the night's events. As the real roots of the land dispute are revealed, a shocking murder uncovers a web of… Read More

Altrincham: John Sherratt & Son Ltd, 1970. First published 1876. This edition first published 1970. Hardback. xi, [xii], 338pp. Dust jacket in a protective sleeve. Foreward by E. L. Burney. The story of Jabez Clegg is one of the north country's best-loved novels. A tale of adventure, drama and romance. It tells of the orphan blue-coat boy from Chetham's College, who by strength of character rises from the humble home of which he is the adopted son to be successively apprentice and then master in his own right and a man of wealth and influence in the commercial life of Manchester. This is one of Mrs Linnaeus Banks' most successful stories; of a high moral tone and with an authentic background of eighteenth-century Manchester. It brings to life not only prospering commercial development in Manchester but the misery and tragedy of those to whom fate has dealt an unkind hand. Frontis. photograph of Mrs Linnaeus Banks. Book in good condition. A little toning & light soiling to text… Read More

London: Century, 2000. First edition, 2000. Hard back. 608pp. Dust jacket. It was one of the greatest human experiments ever undertaken: to populate an unknown land with the criminal, the unloved and the unwanted of English society. Amid conditions of brutality that paralleled those of slavery, 'The First Fleet' was sent to a place no European but the legendary Captain Cook had ever seen. Left to live or die on the hostile Australian continent, these convicts - and their equally isolated guards - occupy Colleen McCullough's compelling epic. Richard Morgan, convicted felon and educated, intelligent, resourceful man, finds the will to survive, experience the joys of love, and finally make an indelible mark upon the new frontier. Book in very good condition. A little toning to page edges. Dust jacket very good. Unclipped. Minor edge wear only. very slight colour fade to spine.

London: Simon & Schuster, 2010. First edition. Hardback. As New/Very good. The book is near fine and the dust jacket would be similar but for a small nick to the bottom front and a wee bit of bumping to top and bottom of spine - hence we're calling it very good only. First Edition. from the pen of Philippa Gregory who also wrote the best selling 'The White Queen'. The novel follows the life of Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Richmond and Derby; the mother of King Henry VII and paternal grandmother to Henry VIII. It's a novel of conspiracy, passion and cold-hearted ambition.

London: Chatto & Windus, 2007. First edition. Hardback. Fine/Very Good. Signed by the author. Chatto & Windus, London, 2007. First edition, signed by the author. Book condition: near fine and unread. Dust jacket: very good. Unclipped and with minor edge wear only. Comes with the wrap-around ball mask. 'Signed first edition' sticker to front. This is the story of the real life seduction of the beautiful, clever, Arabella fermor by the charming nobleman Robert Ptre, seventh Baron of Ingatestone. The couple's affair and its notorious finale is a true story, covered up in its day as it threatened to cause a sensation. Sophisticated, sexy and hugely enjoyable, this dazzling debut novel is inspired by events that gave rise to the era's most satirical entertainment. The story plays out against the backdrop of eighteenth century London: dirty teeming street-life and glorious buildings, newly restored after the Great Fire; the River Thames, artery of England's trade &… Read More

London: Headline, 1996. First edition, 1996. Signed by the author to the title page. Hardback. 307pp. Dust jacket in a protective sleeve. Domesday Commissioners Ralph Delchard and Gervase Bret's arrival in Canterbury augurs well for their visit. Their hosts are pleasant, the legal case they have been sent to deal with seems straightforward and Ralph has his new wife, Golde, with him. But almost as soon as they arrive, they learn the tragic news that a young girl, Bertha, has been found dead near the village of Harbledown with the mark of a snake bite on her neck. Gervase is suspicious - the tale of the serpent bite seems to ring false and Brother Martin, head of the leper hospital confirms these doubts when he tells Gervase that Bertha was almost certainly strangled before she was bitten. Then another gruesome murder takes place. Book in very good condition. Light toning to the paper edges. a nice clean copy. Dust jacket in near fine condition. Unclipped. very minor edge wear only.

London: Headline, 1997. First edition, 1997. Signed by the author to the title page. Hardback. 275pp. Dust jacket in a protective sleeve. Three powerful Norman lords and a dispossessed Saxon thegn watch their steeds race close to the forest of Woodstock. Not just money but fierce pride is at stake. But a victorious horse needs a rider and when the first past the post has an empty saddle, the race is won by another. Until it emerges that the knight who rode the stallion is lying in a copse with a knife in his back. Ralph Delchard and Gervase Bret, Domesday Commissioners are guests of the Sheriff of Oxford while they settle a land dispute. But soon their attentions are focused on a different piece of land altogether - a stretch of grass outside Woodstock where a murderer's secrets are to be found. Book in very good condition. Light toning to the page edges. A good, clean copy. Dust jacket in near fine condition. Unclipped. very minor edge wear only.

London: Macmillan & Co Ltd, 1904. First published in 1855, this is the book's first appearance in the Illustrated Pocket Classics series, 1904. Hardback. xiii, 591pp. Blue cloth boards with gilt to front and spine. Tope edge gilt. Book in a protective plastic sleeve. Illustrated by Charles E. Brock. Frontispiece with tissue guard. Book in very good condition. A little toning to endpapers. Previous owner's name and gift inscription to front flyleaf. A few pages have tiny crease to top corners. A very nice, clean copy.

London: Faber & Faber, 1956. First edition, 1956. Hardback. 224pp. Dust jacket in a protective sleeve. Camul and Acco were both Gauls of the Pyrenees living at the time of Julius Caesar, both young and proud of their noble descent. Acco also an Ovate training to be a Druid. In avenging the girl he loved Acco brought upon himself the curse of the Goddess; and in consequence both men left home to join the Roman army. The story tells of their adventures and travels which took them to Rome and across the greater part of the Empire as far as its Eastern rim. The novel contains a brilliant account of the fate of Marcus Crassus's expedition of seven Roman legions and Gallic cavalry, which set out to plunder Seleucia, only to meet with the Parthian horse-bowmen under their leader Surenas. Book in very good condition. Boards very slightly rubbed and faded. Very slight soiling to top edge of text block. Faint tanning to end papers. Previous owner's name and date stamped on half-title page. Dust… Read More