You’ll know the story already, I guess. Heroic. The tramp steamer Stanbrook. And its legendary Cardiff skipper, Archie Dickson. The tragic closing days of the Spanish Civil War. 28th March 1939 and a final desperate group of Republican refugees carried to Oran, North Africa. To comparative safety. Out of rebel General Franco’s … [Read more...] about The Stanbrook Story
Spanish Civil War
Reynolds News and the Spanish Civil War
My three novels set during or in the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War feature fictional journalist Jack Telford. But I needed a real-life newspaper for which he could report. And I chose the Sunday weekly Reynolds News. It had been founded as Reynolds's Weekly Newspaper in 1850 by radical journalist William MacArthur Reynolds. In … [Read more...] about Reynolds News and the Spanish Civil War
Amado Granell Mesado, the Spanish Republican who helped liberate Paris
Real-life Amado Granell plays a big part in A Betrayal of Heroes alongside our fictional Jack Telford – and readers have been asking for more about him. Well, here’s the full story… In Alicante lives a man called Miguel Ángel Pérez Oca. He’s 77 now. A famous science teacher, writer and illustrator of books on astronomy and other subjects. Author … [Read more...] about Amado Granell Mesado, the Spanish Republican who helped liberate Paris
The Jack Telford Novels
Three books now in the Jack Telford series. Pretty much standalone novels, though they do follow on, one from the other. Action and intrigue at the end of the Spanish Civil War. The Assassin's Mark The first, The Assassin's Mark, sees journalist Jack sent by his editor (Sydney Elliott of Reynold's News) to Spain in September 1938. Why? To check … [Read more...] about The Jack Telford Novels
Five Things You (Maybe) Didn’t Know About the Spanish Heroes of the Second World War
My tenth novel, A Betrayal of Heroes, published in July. It picks up the story of Spanish Republicans who fought against Europe’s Nazis all through the Second World War. The Spanish Civil War - yes, it's a passion Yes, guilty! I write historical fiction. But all my stories solidly rooted in fact. My aim has always been to take special periods of … [Read more...] about Five Things You (Maybe) Didn’t Know About the Spanish Heroes of the Second World War