Bøger af Catherine Hanley

The story of Joanna - princess, pioneer, captive and queen - and of the wider twelfth-century world that she inhabited.

This is the first of a series of stories based on the fictional life of Michael Orrick North, one of King George III's most successful sailors. It is 1799 and Britain is at war with France. A few days after Napoleon takes over the government in Paris by force, Michael North can be found as the First Lieutenant of the frigate Phoenix in the Bay of Biscay. After a battle and the capture of a French frigate, North returns to London and becomes entangled in a conspiracy involving rival fur trading companies in Canada to assist an invasion by the French. Promoted to post captain and given command of a 74 gun ship which is not supposed to exist, he leaves behind the woman he loves to undertake a secret mission to Canada to break the plot. A French attempt to ambush his ship is foiled and two French 74s are captured. In Montreal the conspirators are confronted; the French have sent a powerful squadron to invade. North then joins with ships from Halifax, Nova Scotia to engage the French in the cold waters of the North Atlantic. This is by no means the end of North's use to the Admiralty. Having proved himself he is given a small flotilla and sent to Diego Garcia to conduct operations against French privateers and then to Morocco to rescue hostages from Barbary pirates. North by Polaris offers a no-holds-barred description of life on one of George III's sailing ships at war. This is a strongly-researched story based on true events of the period, both political and social, and paints a meticulous picture of naval practices and men in power. Michael North's adventures continue with North to the Baltic Sea.

It is the spring of 1803. The shaky peace between Britain and France is breaking down and Bonaparte is about to rampage across Europe once more. Michael North, the commodore of a flotilla of ships, is sent to the Baltic on a secret mission vital to British interests. Spies and traitors are not the only villains as he fights the corruption of Navy suppliers and the murderous malice of senior officers. The battles are at sea and in the drawing rooms of the British elite. As treachery and envy threaten North and his band of mariners. The bloody business of war on the high seas is carried on against the old enemies, France and Spain. The North saga continues through the Napoleonic war.

An investigation of the depiction of warfare in contemporary writings, in both fictional narratives and factual accounts.

In 1215 a group of English barons, dissatisfied with the weak and despicable King John, decided that they needed a new monarch. They wanted a strong, experienced man, of royal blood, and they found him on the other side of the Channel: astonishingly, the most attractive candidate for the crown of England was Louis, eldest son and heir of the king of France. In this fascinating biography of England's least-known "e;king"e;-and the first to be written in English-Catherine Hanley explores the life and times of "e;Louis the Lion"e; before, during, and beyond his quest for the English throne. She illuminates the national and international context of his 1216 invasion, and explains why and how after sixteen fruitless months he failed to make himself King Louis I of England. Hanley also explores Louis's subsequent reign over France until his untimely death on the Albigensian Crusade. Published eight centuries after the creation of Magna Carta and on the 800th anniversary of Louis's proclamation as king, this fascinating story is a colorful tale of national culture, power, and politics that brings a long-forgotten life out of the shadows of history.