Four Irish siblings. One buried secret. Howarth makes you feel the cost of every unspoken word. “Heap Earth Upon It” is psychological suspense at its finest. Read my review on Substack. open.substack.com/pub/jonathan...

Mexican history lives in the gap between word and fact—what Spain claimed vs. what happened, revolutionary promises vs. boss rule, drug war rhetoric vs. civil war reality. Check out my review of Gillingham's ambitious revisionist history. open.substack.com/pub/jonathan...

In this conversation with novelist and arts therapist Susanna Crossman, we explore “The Orange Notebooks”—a haunting meditation on grief, art, and time that asks: how do we live with our dead while still choosing life? open.substack.com/pub/jonathan...

‘Gone is any semblance of due process, presumption of innocence or assistance of counsel. Instead, the self-styled “secretary of war” shares videos on social media of each “lethal kinetic strike”.’ A.S. Dillingham on US government attacks on small boats, from the blog. www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2025/no...

“King Sorrow” is Joe Hill's masterpiece and one of 2025's best horror novels. Six friends make a catastrophic choice that corrupts them for decades. Morally complex, structurally daring, genuinely unsettling. Full review here. open.substack.com/pub/jonathan...

What endures when the body fails? In “The Hidden City,” Charles Finch delivers a mystery about resilience, recovery, and persistence. Full review up now. open.substack.com/pub/jonathan...

Steven Kaplan’s”The Ethiopians” reexamines a civilization long shaped by myth and ideology—a study of how Ethiopia’s past was continually rewritten, and what those revisions reveal about power and identity. open.substack.com/pub/jonathan...

Few writers made the past feel as alive as David McCullough. History Matters—a posthumous collection of his speeches and essays—reminds us that history isn’t a record of what was, but a guide to who we are. New review out now. open.substack.com/pub/jonathan...

“Old Songs”—a collaboration between Amy Jeffs, Gwen Burns, and Natalie Bryce that brings traditional ballads back to life through prose, painting, and music. History you can see, hear, and feel. Review up now on my Substack. open.substack.com/pub/jonathan...

Hiron Ennes's “The Works of Vermin” is corporate horror spliced with biological fantasy—demanding, hallucinatory, and unlike anything else. It is, without hesitation, my top fantasy read of the year so far. open.substack.com/pub/jonathan...

🚨 THIS WEEK🚨 🌟 Golden Ages? 🌑 Dark Ages? 🚫 They’re not history. They’re propaganda. Historian @adapalmer.bsky.social joins #HistoryRage to smash one of the biggest lies in how we tell the past. 🔥 Listen now: pod.fo/e/3401b1#HistoryRage#AdaPalmer #MythBusting #FakeHistory #HistoricalNarratives

The Far Edges of the Known World is now available in North America! If you like ancient history, global history, reading about different cultures, or just fancy an escape - give it a look.

My book is in Waterstones' preorder sale for books released in 2026. Today is the last chance to get 25% off the paperback edition for when its released next February!

New review: "Bloody Crowns" by Michael Livingston. It began with a murder over fresh water in 1292. It ended with a treaty in 1492. Two hundred years of bloodshed that forged modern France. open.substack.com/pub/jonathan...

Shauna Lawless's “Daughter of the Otherworld” is historical fantasy at its finest: Descendants vs. Fomorians in medieval Ireland's brutal collapse. The otherworld mirrors reality here. Start with this one—no prior knowledge needed. open.substack.com/pub/jonathan...

The case of the slaves was the same as if horses had been thrown overboard." Britain's Chief Justice, 1783. He thought he was settling an insurance claim. He actually ignited the abolition movement. Review of The Zorg ⬇️ open.substack.com/pub/jonathan...

New review: “The Gales of November” by John U. Bacon. More than a shipwreck story—it's about regulatory failure, industrial ambition, and the 29 men lost when profit was prioritized over safety. open.substack.com/pub/jonathan...

How a basement discovery became a 400-page history spanning Neanderthals to NASA. Tim Queeney on rope as the invisible thread binding civilization together. New interview available on Substack. open.substack.com/pub/jonathan...

Christopher Gorham’s Matisse at War shatters the myth of Matisse’s wartime indifference—revealing an artist whose presence, art, and family ties became acts of resistance. Read my full review on Substack. open.substack.com/pub/jonathan...

In “How to Kill a Witch,” Claire Mitchell & Zoe Venditozzi turn Scotland’s dark past into a call to action—showing how fear, misogyny & power still fuel persecution today. Read my full review for the complete story of how history becomes activism. open.substack.com/pub/jonathan...

What happens when the dead demand justice? In Grave Birds, Dana Elmendorf reimagines Southern Gothic horror. Melissa Wyett and I spoke with her about grief, corruption, and the power of haunting stories. open.substack.com/pub/jonathan...

Reviewed Ken Follett’s Circle of Days: a leap from medieval cathedrals to Stone Age monuments. An ambitious epic of survival, belief, and community. open.substack.com/pub/jonathan...

My latest review explores Tim Queeney’s Rope, a book that redefines human progress through something we often overlook. From Stone Age tools to Mars rovers, rope has shaped civilization in ways you won’t expect. open.substack.com/pub/jonathan...

My latest review explores Owen Rees’s “The Far Edges of the Known World,” a bold rethinking of ancient history that shifts focus from Greece and Rome to the overlooked edges of antiquity. open.substack.com/pub/jonathan...

If the rest of the country wants to understand what lies ahead, it would do well to start here, or as Kyle Paoletta so aptly concludes in “American Oasis,” "In order to see where America is going, we have to look at where the Southwest has already been." open.substack.com/pub/jonathan...

Samantha Browning Shea’s Marrow isn’t just a thriller—it’s a sharp, unsettling look at power, motherhood, and autonomy. I dig into its strengths and flaws in this review. open.substack.com/pub/jonathan...

In my latest review, I dive into Jinwoo Park’s debut, “The Oxford Soju Club”—a spy thriller layered with questions of identity, heritage, and belonging from a Korean Canadian writer to watch. open.substack.com/pub/jonathan...

Grief resists tidy endings. In my review of Susanna Crossman’s "The Orange Notebooks," I examine how this luminous and unsettling novel reimagines loss as a narrative of enduring love. open.substack.com/pub/jonathan...

Just posted my review of Hampton Sides’s “The Wide Wide Sea.” A vivid, unflinching look at Cook’s final voyage—where exploration, empire, and Indigenous voices collide. Narrative history at its best. open.substack.com/pub/jonathan...

Just posted my review of Robert Winder’s “Three Rivers,” a brilliant blend of history, geography & biography. How rivers shaped Europe’s past—and why their future matters now. open.substack.com/pub/jonathan...

What connects us to a 5,000-year-old clay tablet? Oxford’s Moudhy Al-Rashid on empathy, humor & everyday lives in Mesopotamia. My interview with her: open.substack.com/pub/jonathan...

In my latest review, I explore Lucy Steeds’s “The Artist”—a dazzling, layered debut set in 1920s Provence that asks not just what we see in art, but what we choose not to. Review linked. open.substack.com/pub/jonathan...

UChicago ebook 75% off sale! Perfect time to grab “Inventing the Renaissance” if you still need it! press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/vi...

#Worldcon unofficial Terra Ignota meet-up will happen tonight at 9 pm. Due to rain we’ll meet in Sheraton floor 3; we’ll have little flags you can spot us by that. Looking forward to conversation! We’ll do another meetup Saturday before the Hugo’s. @seattlein2025.org

Just posted my review of @adapalmer.bsky.social ’s Inventing the Renaissance—a thoughtful, incisive look at how the “Golden Age” myth was built, sustained, and used from the Renaissance to today. open.substack.com/pub/jonathan...

I thought I understood the fight women face—it turns out, I didn’t. The New Age of Sexism is harrowing, full of trigger warnings, and essential reading. open.substack.com/pub/jonathan...

Boudicca’s Daughter by Elodie Harper—a fierce, haunting look at survival, identity, and empire. Historical fiction that doesn't flinch. Read the full review on my page. open.substack.com/pub/jonathan...

Sabrina Lund discovered the scandalous Hellfire Club and turned it into her debut novel. Writing from Hampshire, she blends Austen's wit with political intrigue that feels startlingly modern. Find out more in our interview. open.substack.com/pub/jonathan...

Laura Poppick transforms geology into art in “Strata: Stories from Deep Time.” My review examines how she navigates deep time without losing the present—balancing scientific rigor with lyrical storytelling. open.substack.com/pub/jonathan...

My latest interview is with Sheri Singerling on “Neuen,” a sci-fi novel rich in world-building, genetic lore, and quiet melancholy. A must-read for fans of smart speculative fiction. open.substack.com/pub/jonathan...

Alan Parks’s "Gunner" is a bleak, unflinching descent into wartime Glasgow, where trauma haunts every corner and morality is a casualty. My review dives into its disturbing brilliance and why this noir refuses to let you look away. #BookReview #NoirFiction open.substack.com/pub/jonathan...

Helen Carr’s "Sceptred Isle" reimagines 14th-century England with empathy and depth. My latest review looks at how she finds humanity in a century too often reduced to plague, war, and kings. open.substack.com/pub/jonathan...

In my latest interview, James Romm discusses Plato, politics, and the power of failure—a sharp look at the man behind the myth and why flawed greatness makes for the best history. open.substack.com/pub/jonathan...

Just in time for Pride Month: I spoke with Phil Melanson about “Florenzer,” queer history, Renaissance power, and writing into the silences of the past. A story where art meets resistance. open.substack.com/pub/jonathan...

A woman reviled for playing by men’s rules, too early. In “Fulvia,” Jane Draycott reclaims a life distorted by power and patriarchy. #bookreview #womeninhistory #historybooks #bookthread open.substack.com/pub/jonathan...

In my latest interview article, see how author Jane Mondrup redefines First Contact in “Zoi,” a sci-fi tale of biology, identity, and transformation. Sentient worlds, shared bodies, and no easy answers. open.substack.com/pub/jonathan...

In my latest interview, Fawn Brokaw Doyle shares how her 8th great-grandmother inspired a powerful debut novel about early New York’s forgotten women. #historicalfiction #bookstagram #authorinterview open.substack.com/pub/jonathan...

In my latest review, I examine Eden’s Clock by Norman Lock—not a nostalgic glance back, but rather a history as an indictment. A haunting finale to The American Novels, it asks: What have we learned? Out July 1 from Bellevue Literary Press. open.substack.com/pub/jonathan...

I talked with Jonathan Crain about my new book _I Have Avenged America: Jean-Jacques Dessalines and Haiti's Fight for Freedom_ (out June 17 @yalepress.bsky.social)! open.substack.com/pub/jonathan...

Rewriting history isn’t just academic—it’s revolutionary. Julia Gaffield’s take on Dessalines challenges everything we thought we knew. #HaitianRevolution #Dessalines #JuliaGaffield open.substack.com/pub/jonathan...