Forthcoming (due for publication April 2027)
The Lion at the Threshold (my debut novel)
“Henry VIII had The Tudors, Cromwell had Wolf Hall, Game of Thrones’ scheming and infighting had everyone gripped. The Lion at the Threshold has plenty of tension, high stakes and drama to appeal to a similar market. Highly recommended to anyone who loves epic historical stories.”
LoveReading, who have named The Lion at the Threshold as one of their ‘Indie Books We Love’
“A cerebral and intoxicating journey…intricate undertones of Umberto Eco and Orhan Pamuk echo through every hall.”
Defne Suman, best-selling Turkish novelist, author of The Silence of Scheherazade
“A gracefully written and engrossing novel based on solid historical research. The personal touches are deftly handled.”
Dr Jane Hathaway, Arts and Sciences Distinguished Professor Emerita, Dept. of History, Ohio State University
Well-paced and sensitive – full of fascinating detail
Mathew Lyons, writer and historian, author of The Favourite: Ralegh and His Queen
Twelve-year-old Leonardo Michiel is destined for a privileged future in Venice – until Adriatic pirates tear him from his family and carry him to Constantinople. There, in the imperial palace, he is castrated, trained in the palace school and renamed Gazanfer, ‘the lion-hearted’.
In a court ruled by ambition, deception and shifting loyalties, he is drawn into the lives of two extraordinary women – Nurbanu and the alluring Safiye – whose influence reaches far beyond the harem. After an astonishing rise from slave to imperial power broker, Gazanfer becomes one of the most influential figures at the heart of an empire that spans continents, encountering scheming viziers, foreign ambassadors, concubines, artists and poets. But as armies clash and economic chaos threatens the empire from within, Gazanfer comes to realise that, for all his power and influence, no position at the Sultan’s side is ever truly safe.
Based on a true story and drawing on meticulous historical research, The Lion at the Threshold is a sweeping historical novel of love, loss, survival and identity that brings to life the splendour, danger and hidden politics of the world’s greatest empire.
To be published by Rowanvale Books, 30 April 2027
In progress
Shadow of a Traitor (just completed)
A remarkable blend of fact and fiction. This is a brilliantly evocative novel, offering a convincing portrait of Tom Stukeley’s ‘hellish’ personality. The immediacy of the descriptions and the ingenious plot all combine to make this an impressive feat.”
Juan E. Tazòn, retired Professor of English, University of Oviedo, first president of the Spanish Society for English Renaissance Studies and biographer of Thomas Stukeley
Soldier, colonist, pirate and traitor, Tom Stukeley talked his way into the confidence of monarchs and monarchs, spent the fortunes of two wives, then turned his back on his queen and country to throw in his lot with Irish rebels.
Stukeley was killed in 1578, fighting a battle in Morocco. But that was not the end, for ‘Lusty Tom’ lived on in ballads, and in two plays performed at the Rose.
Narrated by Stukeley’s friend Antony Vernon, Shadow of a Traitor weaves together Stukeley’s actual history with an account of his stage life and explains why some parts of the story were better left untold. For behind it all lie the dangerous religious politics of Elizabethan England, as Lord Burghley works to thwart Spanish and papal plans to depose Elizabeth.
Meanwhile, at the Rose, history is becoming theatre. Edward Alleyn commands the stage, Philip Henslowe runs the playhouse, and a young and ambitious William Shakespeare is making his way in an increasingly competitive theatrical world.
But in politics and the playhouse, nothing is ever quite what it seems.
Already published (and available on Amazon)
Walking the Hamster to the Fountain
“Greedy vicars, a school bully turned merchant, child brides, hellfire preachers, eccentric generals, family curses and dynamic women. This wide-ranging and thoroughly researched work weaves vibrant personal stories into a national and sometimes international narrative. This is local social history at its finest.’
Dr Elizabeth Goodwin, Asociate Professor, Late Medieval and Early Modern History, York St John University
Walking the Hamster to the Fountain is a highly entertaining and well-researched book which chronicles, in lively and unforgettable detail, some of the thousand year history of Hempstead, from the Norman Conquest to the Kray twins. It will appeal to anyone who enjoys disappearing down historical ‘rabbit holes’.
The title comes from an interview with a former resident, recalling summers between the wars when the wells dried up. People had to ‘walk into Hempstead to the fountain’ for water. When this was transcribed, the computer produced the hamster.
Published by The Conrad Press, 2025. ISBN 978-1916966871
At the Going Down of the Sun
At the Going Down of the Sun is a fascinating and often gripping account of the lives of the eighteen men commemorated on Hempstead’s War Memorial.
Until recently, relatively little has been known about these men (fourteen from the First World War and four from the Second) other than their ‘name, rank and serial number’ and the location of their graves. Ross Midgley’s detective work – building on the research for Walking the Hamster to the Fountain, his book of Hempstead history – has brought to light some incredible stories of their lives in both peace and war, and the manner of their passing.
Published by the author, 2025. ISBN 978-1036903695. Note that all profits from this booklet will be donated to the Royal British Legion’s Poppy Appeal