Showing results by publisher "W. F. Howes Ltd" in Historical Fiction

When first published, Walker’s versions of the Iliad and the Odyssey attracted attention for the quality of the writing. Multi-award-winning author Gillian Cross makes two of the greatest stories in the world come alive for children in her strong, clear, deceptively simple retellings, which are faithful to the spirit and structure of Homer’s epic poems, and this new bind-up in a friendly format comes complete with an introduction. 

Her best friend's family have fled, and the bombing makes her afraid to leave the mosque where she lives. But when her father is arrested by the Nazis for his secret Resistance work, it falls to Safiyyah to run the dangerous errands around the city.\ It's not long before hundreds of persecuted Jews seek sanctuary at the mosque. Can Safiyyah find the courage to enter the treacherous catacombs under Paris and lead the Jews to safety?

Ruth lives in Vienna and is wildly in love with Heini Radik, a brilliant young pianist. When Hitler’s forces invade, Ruth’s family flees to London, but she cannot get a passport. Quin, a young professor and friend of the family, visits Ruth and offers a marriage of convenience. On their return to London, Quin begins to fall desperately in love with her. But then Heini turns up.…

It is 1910 and Maia, tragically orphaned at 13, has been sent from England to start a new life with distant relatives in Manaus, hundreds of miles up the Amazon. She is accompanied by an eccentric and mysterious governess who has secret reasons of her own for making the journey. Both soon discover an exotic world bursting with new experiences in this highly colourful, joyous, and award-winning adventure.

The Philippines, 1899. Ten-year-old Samkad thinks he knows everything about the world. He knows that home is in the mountains. He knows who his friends and his enemies are. And he knows that he will grow up to become a warrior like his dad, with his own shield, spear and axe. His best friend is Little Luki and she too wants to become a warrior—though there's little chance of that because she is just a girl. Then strangers arrive: a boy with many languages in his throat... and weird-looking men called Americans who bring war and death.

It is the summer of 1940. The world is at war. These days, you don't know who you can trust or who might be a secret spy… Maths whizz Jakob Novis has been recruited to the secret codebreaking centre at Bletchley Park. As Jakob works to crack the Nazi's Enigma cipher, his younger sister Lizzie is busy on an undercover mission of her own: to find their mother. Filled with codes to decipher and mysteries to unravel, this is the unputdownable historical adventure that will have you on the edge of your seats.

A mysterious labyrinth. A desperate king. A rebellious princess. Being stuck in a crumbling old villa in Crete with her annoying, history-obsessed little brother Remy isn’t exactly Netta’s idea of a fun summer holiday. But before she can even get bored, Netta starts having very real dreams...

King Lear has decided to retire from his royal duties. He calls his three daughters and asks each to tell him how much they love him. The eldest two, Goneril and Regan, flatter him with their words. Cordelia the youngest, only says that she loves him as a daughter must love her father. Furious, he disinherits her and divides his kingdom between her two sisters. But Goneril and Regan soon turn against Lear.

It’s 1911, and the young detectives of Taylor & Rose are turning their talents to espionage. On a case for the mysterious Secret Service Bureau, the daring Miss Sophie Taylor and Miss Lilian Rose must leave London for the boulevards and grand hotels of Paris.

The festive season has come to Sinclair’s and Sophie and Lil are spending the holidays at snowy Winter Hall. But it turns out that this is no ordinary house party… As sinister secrets come to light, our intrepid heroines find themselves faced with a more baffling mystery than ever before! With the help of their friends, can they uncover the truth in time to foil a truly diabolical plot? Or will Mr Sinclair’s New Year’s Eve Midnight Peacock Ball spell disaster for the dauntless young detectives?

Wonder at the puzzling disappearance of the Jewelled Moth! Marvel as our heroines, Sophie and Lil, don cunning disguises, mingle in high society and munch many cucumber sandwiches to solve this curious case! Applaud their bravery as they follow a trail of terrible secrets that leads straight to London’s most dangerous criminal mastermind, and could put their own lives at risk too....

Will Shakespeare knows he’s destined to be a genius at something, and that thing is clearly becoming the greatest person-who-solves-crimes in the world. There ought to be a word for a person who solves crimes, he’ll work on that. Trouble is, he’s part of a boring family living in Stratford-upon-Avon, possibly the most boring town in England. But, when the famous (for Stratford-upon-Avon) Moundsofgoo Treasure goes missing, he might finally have the chance to kick off his crime-solving career.

“The Persians are coming…” Hearing these words, Gorgo of Sparta is plunged into a dangerous world of vengeful gods and invincible heroes. For a mighty empire threatens Athens, Sparta and all who stand in its path... Calling on the ancient power to transform into a wolf and the blood of Zeus that runs through her veins, Gorgo must lead her nation in one of history's greatest wars. Multi-award-winning author Tom Holland and acclaimed illustrator Jason Cockcroft boldly weave myth and history in this dramatic tale of Greeks and Gods.

At her dull Victorian academy, fourteen-year-old Winnie dreams of becoming a top inventor like her father. When he mysteriously vanishes, she is determined to find him—but how? Help comes unexpectedly from her headmistress. Turns out, her school is recruiting remarkable young women to guard Her Majesty the Queen. Soon, Winnie is not only protecting royalty—but developing the spy skills she needs to save her beloved Papa.

Berlin, 1961. Anja and Monika are best friends–they even share a cat called Otto. When a huge barbed wire fence is built between their apartment blocks, everything changes; their city and family are divided by the Berlin Wall. In the West, Anja is sure it will be taken down, but Monika is afraid. Her world is changing: neighbours keep disappearing, others become spies and shadowy threats lurk around every corner.

Leif is not unlucky. Yes, he does split his trousers at least once a week. And yes, he's always tripping up. But he's determined to become a true Viking hero, just like his father. Can he unravel the riddles of a witch to find a magical shard of rock that has fallen from a shooting star and wield its magical powers? He will have to journey deep into the heart of polar bear country, outwitting all kinds of mythological creatures along the way.

London, 1880s: High up under the eaves of her father's townhouse, twelve-year-old Emma Linden lives and never goes out. Her dream is to follow in the footsteps of Mary Anning, the famous fossil hunter. But Emma is kept hidden away from all the world, science and study, the tools that keep her mind well. When Emma's brother, James, begins to speak obsessively of a tiger gifted to the Natural History Museum, everything she holds certain begins to crumble. Their only refuge is Kersbrook, the magical family home on the Devon coast.

Dido is reconciled to leaving the racing track and staying at home to train horses with Scorpus and Parmenion. But a storm is brewing. It brings with it a fiery black stallion, uncannily like Dido's beloved Porcellus. Word arrives from Rome that her cousin, Abibaal, a talented young charioteer, has been recruited to compete for the evil emperor Caligula. To save Abibaal, Dido must return to the great Circus Maximus track where she once drove to glory herself, confront her enemy Caligula, and face the toughest, most dangerous race of her life.

Alfie Wright? Alfie Wrong, more like. Alfie has never really fit in anywhere–he doesn't have any friends, and even his mum seems embarrassed of him. So when he's evacuated to a farm in rural Devon run by kind old Aunt Bell and her gentle giant of a son, Alfie can't believe his luck. The War seems a long way off, and among the cows and pigs and geese Alfie's happier than he's ever been–especially when he makes friends with one of the local boys, Snidge. But Snidge, for all his friendliness, is not all he appears.

February 1948. Ruth has been whisked off to the lonely Rook Farm to investigate the discovery of long-buried treasure with her mother. But at the farmhouse, she finds secrets lurk around every corner. Joe, the farmer's son, is hiding something about the treasure, while land girl Audrey watches their every move. But before Ruth can find out more, the treasure is stolen. With a storm coming, Ruth must race to uncover the secrets of the treasure keepers before all their lives are changed forever.