Two best-selling historians, Kate Williams and Alison Weir, discuss how their deep knowledge of history has helped them to write novels based in history.

Williams, an acclaimed television historian and writer, has just published a second novel, The Storms of War. The story opens in 1914 and centres on Celia, the youngest of four children in the prosperous de Witt family. The onset of war finds the de Witts shunned by a society that once embraced them and in danger of losing everything. Williams is an author, social historian, constitutional and royal expert, broadcaster and novelist. She has written five acclaimed non-fiction historical works, including Young Elizabeth: The Making of Our Queen, and another historical novel, The Pleasures of Men. She appears regularly on radio and television as an expert on royal and constitutional matters, is the social historian on BBC2’s Restoration Home and has presented television and radio documentaries, including Young Victoria and The History of the Smile.

Weir brings all her knowledge of Elizabeth I to life in her novel, The Marriage Game. The novel plays out the story of a young Queen Elizabeth, pursued for her hand in marriage by many of Europe’s leading princes, but who cannot resist the attractions of the dashing but married Robert Dudley. Weir’s many bestselling books on history include Britain’s Royal Families, The Six Wives of Henry VIII, Henry VIII: King and Court, and Mary, Queen of Scots. She has also written two other novels, Innocent Traitor and The Lady Elizabeth.

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