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Author

Geoffrey Trease

1909–1998

44 fiction

Geoffrey Trease (1909–1998) was an English author best known for historical adventure novels for children and young adults. Born in Nottingham, he published more than one hundred books during a career extending from Bows Against the Barons in 1934 to Cloak for a Spy in 1997. Trease helped modernise children’s historical fiction by rejecting the aristocratic heroes, imperial assumptions and archaic dialogue common in earlier adventure stories. His novels instead featured characters from varied social backgrounds, capable female protagonists and realistic depictions of poverty, oppression and political conflict. He combined substantial historical research with accessible language and fast-moving plots, influencing later writers such as Rosemary Sutcliff and Leon Garfield.

His best-known novel, Cue for Treason, follows two young actors who become involved with William Shakespeare and uncover a plot against Elizabeth I. Trease’s fiction ranged widely across history: Bows Against the Barons offered a radical reinterpretation of Robin Hood; The Crown of Violet was set in ancient Athens; and The Hills of Varna followed a Renaissance search for a lost Greek manuscript. Other novels explored the English Civil War, the French Revolution, Garibaldi’s campaign for Italian unification and the struggle for women’s suffrage, notably in Bring Out the Banners. Across these settings, Trease presented history through the experiences of young people caught up in larger social and political upheavals, making unfamiliar periods intelligible without sacrificing their complexity.

Periods and events

World War II Eastern Front of World War II Monmouth Rebellion Renaissance & Early Modern Europe French Revolution Restoration London Second Barons’ War Rise of the Ottoman Empire English Civil War Fall of Granada Italian Unification First English Civil War, 1642–1646 Restoration Imperial Russia

Historical fiction

Historical fiction series by Geoffrey Trease (2 series)

English Commonwealth Sequence in Order

by Geoffrey Trease 3 books 3.8(33)

The English Commonwealth Sequence follows connected lives across the upheavals that began with civil war and continued through the Restoration and the succession crisis of 1685. Silver Guard opens amid the First English Civil War, Grey Adventurer follows the consequences of the Stuart return in London and colonial…

Mandeville Series in Order

by Geoffrey Trease 3 books 3.8(10)

The Mandeville Series follows Sir Renold Mandeville and a recurring circle of servants, secretaries, performers and musicians through the political and cultural world of seventeenth-century England. Mandeville introduces the household during the reign of Charles I, while Saraband for Shadows returns to the characters after the civil wars…

Historical fiction

Standalone historical fiction by Geoffrey Trease (38 books)

Ordered by star rating.

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