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Author

Gillian Bradshaw

20 fiction

Gillian Bradshaw is an American-born historical novelist who has lived in Britain for much of her adult life. She studied English and Classical Greek at the University of Michigan, where her first novel, Hawk of May, won a Hopwood Award for fiction. Her knowledge of classical literature and the ancient Mediterranean informs many of her novels, which combine careful historical research with political conflict, romance and characters attempting to find independence within restrictive societies. She has also written Arthurian fantasy, science fiction and contemporary novels involving scientific or medical themes.

Bradshaw’s historical fiction ranges widely across the ancient and early medieval worlds. The Beacon at Alexandria follows a woman who disguises herself as a eunuch to study medicine in the late Roman Empire, while The Sand-Reckoner reimagines the life of Archimedes during the conflict between Syracuse and Rome. Her other historical novels include The Bearkeeper’s Daughter, centred on the Byzantine empress Theodora; Island of Ghosts, about Sarmatian cavalrymen sent to Roman Britain; Cleopatra’s Heir, an alternative account of Caesarion’s fate; and Alchemy of Fire, set in sixth-century Constantinople. She also wrote the English Civil War novels London in Chains and A Corruptible Crown, as well as the Arthurian Down the Long Wind trilogy beginning with Hawk of May.

Periods and events

Ancient Egyptc. 3100–30 BCE Archaic Greecec. 800–480 BCE Arthurian BritainLegendary setting, conventionally c. 5th–6th centuries CE Byzantine Empire476–1453 CE Execution of Charles I1649 CE Hadrian’s Wall122–410 CE Hellenistic Greece323–146 BCE Ptolemaic Egypt305–30 BCE Reign of Augustus27 BCE–14 CE Reign of Justinian I527–565 CE Roman Egypt and Alexandria30 BCE–395 CE Scythian and Sarmatian Steppe Culturesc. 800 BCE–400 CE Second Punic War218–201 BCE

Historical fiction

Historical fiction series by Gillian Bradshaw (2 series)

Down the Long Wind in Order

by Gillian Bradshaw 3 books 4.4(294)

Down the Long Wind retells the Arthurian story through Gwalchmai, the Welsh hero later known as Gawain. Raised by the sorceress Morgawse in the Orcades, he rejects the power she offers and joins his uncle Arthur, whose attempt to unite post-Roman Britain depends on warriors choosing loyalty and…

English Civil War Novels in Order

by Gillian Bradshaw 2 books 4.2(106)

The English Civil War novels follow Lucy Wentnor and blacksmith Jamie Hudson through the unsettled years from 1647 to 1649. Lucy rebuilds her life in London through the expanding trade in pamphlets and newsbooks, while Jamie’s military experience repeatedly draws him back into the conflict they both hoped…

Historical fiction

Standalone historical fiction by Gillian Bradshaw (15 books)

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