Once you read Fleeced! it will be of little surprise that as we approach the next general election the majority of the electorate are now, more than at any time in our past, so disillusioned and heartily disaffected with the state of British politics and that there is so little appetite for any of the major parties. Recent scandals have exposed our so called “representatives” in Parliament as inept and lacking in any sort of moral fibre, and because this is not a problem limited to a single party, how do you choose who you want to speak on your behalf in Westminster?

In Out of Arabia, Warwick Ball offers an original and thought-provoking approach to Arab history. His theme is the impact of the Arabs on Europe, from Ancient times to the end of the Middle Ages. The book opens with a startling juxtaposition: a ‘Roman’ Emperor and an ‘Arab’ Caliph. It is startling because the Roman, the Emperor Philip, was the son of an Arab sheik, whereas the Caliph, ‘Abd al-Rahman III, the ruler of al-Andalus (Muslim Spain), was blond and blue-eyed. The reader is therefore immediately challenged to reassess a wide range of preconceptions. Whether the word ‘Arab’ is defined ethnologically or culturally (in the sense of a culture being ‘Arab-derived’), it can be argued that in many important senses ‘Europeans’ and ‘Arabs’ share a common heritage.

The Battle of the Somme was the most devastating battle of the Great War. Its first day (1st July 1916) was the bloodiest day in the whole history of the British Army and the battle as a whole would result in over one million casualties on both sides. On the German side it was famously described by a German officer as 'the muddy grave of the German Field Army'

Forgotten Voices of the Somme is the latest release in the Forgotten Voices series and draws on a vast wealth of material from the Imperial War Museum sound archives. It gives the reader a unique access to vivid first hand accounts of this bloody battle, that even today due to the sheer scale of the slaughter remains seared into our national consciousness.

I have a confession to make. My knowledge of the English Civil War is thin to say the least. I did wonder therefore whether I was in a suitable position therefore to judge fairly Mark Turnbull's Decision Most Deadly, as it is that very period that the book concerns itself with. It is also self-published, and that usually makes me a little nervous! I do however love a good story, and this is a piece of historical fiction, so why not?