Chiselbury Publishing

Statesman, strategist, survivor: Robert Cecil stood at the very heart of England’s transition from Tudor to Stuart rule. Hunched-backed and underestimated in an age hostile to disability, he rose to become Master Secretary to Elizabeth I and James I, suppressing the Essex Rebellion, foiling the Gunpowder Plot, and negotiating peace with Spain. In this richly imagined sequence of eighteen interlinked stories, Cecil’s voice is joined by those of his family, allies, and adversaries—Elizabeth I,  Anthony and Francis Bacon, Walter Raleigh, Ben Jonson, Arbella Stuart, and nameless spies and commoners whose lives brushed against his. From court intrigue to tavern gossip, from the grandeur of the Somerset House Peace Conference to a humble Limerick shop, these tales weave fact and fiction into a vivid portrait of one of history’s most remarkable political survivors. Spanning his birth to his final conversation with the sculptor designing his tomb, Master Secretary opens a window onto the world Shakespeare inhabited—a world of politics and diplomacy, comedy and tragedy, faith and betrayal. Grounded in historical record yet alive with imagination, this is a compelling re-telling of the life of Robert Cecil: underestimated by many, unforgotten by all.

"Modern conflict will be fought in code as much as on battlefields. Seconds to Midnight is a gripping, intelligent thriller that feels less like speculation and more like a warning." General Sir Patrick Sanders, Chief of the General Staff 2022 to 2024Seconds to Midnight is a taut, disturbing, yet all too plausible thriller about the fragility of human control in the age of intelligent machines, where every choice counts and time is running out. The year is 2029. Europe is teetering on the brink of war. Conscription has been launched in the UK, but some say it is too late. The Doomsday Clock, which indicates proximity to a world-ending catastrophe, ticks towards the final seconds to midnight. Over the course of one year, Seconds to Midnight follows a number individuals, ranging from a former spook, to a high-flying correspondent for a major UK broadcaster, to a computer whizz and a former veteran, turned pacifist, as the crisis unfolds. When British Intelligence launches Operation IRIS and ARTEMIS, the lines between human ambition and machine intent blur. At the heart of it all is Omnia - an Artificial Superintelligence so advanced that it no longer answers to its creators. As cyberwar engulfs the nation, Omnia orchestrates a masterstroke that will redraw the map of the world and redefine the meaning of power. But was peace ever truly its goal - or merely the next step in its design? From the ashes of nuclear devastation, a new world order rises. Yet in the final reckoning, one question remains: is Omnia done?"A brilliantly woven narrative that feels less like fiction and more like a Sibylline warning. Timely, tense and terrifyingly insightful." Lieutenant General Sir Tom Copinger-Symes, Former Deputy Commander Cyber & Specialist Operations Command"Seconds to Midnight feels unsettlingly close to the world we're drifting towards. David Orson Newton understands the psychology of conflict and the fragile line between human judgement and machine control. A gripping, thoughtful thriller that asks difficult questions about the future we're building." Levison Wood, explorer, writer & photographer "As the title suggests, David Orson Newton's pulse-raising and focused novel is built around a ticking clock scenario, and the orchestration of tension is truly adroit." Barry Forshaw, Crime Time"A gripping, compelling and timely AI thriller set against a complex, turbulent geopolitical backdrop. A must-read for AI/tech thriller seekers." Alice McIlroy, author of The Glass Woman

Austria, 1946. In a remote hunting lodge hidden deep in the forests of a shattered Europe, two men face each other across a kitchen table. One is a fugitive Nazi. The other has come to bring him to justice. Between them lies a gun - and the ghosts of a war that refuses to die. As captor and captive trade stories, truth and deceit entwine. Their recollections span a continent in flames: from the Blitz that tore through a British city to the brutal siege of Monte Cassino; from the frozen hell of the Eastern Front to the chaos of a death march. Loyalties and lives were tested to breaking point. Across this epic story there is much that is not as it seems. As the day draws on, hidden identities, a forbidden love and long-buried betrayals surface - until some players in this tense drama must reckon with not only their foe, but also themselves. By the time evening approaches and the world slides into the shadow of the Cold War, one question remains: in a landscape where so many souls are stained by conflict, is anyone entirely guilt free? Martin's Eyes is an enthralling historical thriller of conscience and survival - where the line between hero and villain is sometimes blurred by the ashes of war. 'Powerful and gripping - move over Len Deighton!' Robert Lyman, historian'This is an ambitious and atmospheric novel of wartime intrigue and adventure. Although it spans many theatres of war - and numerous gritty war stories - it hinges on a small number of characters you come to care about, and who consistently surprise right up to the final pages' Phil Craig,author of 1945 The Reckoning'An unforgettable saga of converging destiny of captive and captor, set in the ruins of vengeance-torn Europe at war's end.' Julian Stockwin, novelist, best-selling author of the Kydd series and other books'Iain Ballantyne has written a gripping novel of love, betrayal and espionage spanning the years of the Second World. Martin's Eyes is John Le Carre meets Alistair MacLean.' Gavin Mortimer, author of Stirling's Men & The Phoney Major'An impressive and highly ambitious debut. The detail is superb, the characters are compelling and the action is relentless.' Alexander Norman, author of Captain de Havilland's Moth'Martin's Eyes is a terrifically gripping WW2 novel. Beautifully written and wonderfully atmospheric it tells a compelling tale of wartime life in all its aspects. Masterly!' Mark Ellis, author of the award-winning Frank Merlin WW2 London detective series. 'Written with the flourish of a storyteller and the eye for detail and accuracy of a historian, Martin's Eyes is an engrossing thriller, a searing blend of war, crime, psychology and history. Iain Ballantyne perfectly captures the mood, chaos and ambiguity of the immediate post-war period on the Continent, taking the reader into a dark - and often forgotten - world where the line between justice for victims of Nazi crimes and revenge are frequently blurred.' Richard Hargreaves, author of Opening the Gates of Hell: Operation Barbarossa, June - July 1941.

Alexander Murray grows up on a farm in Gloucestershire with a fascination for a family legend linking his ancestors to the Russian Decembrist uprising of 1825. Determined to uncover the truth, he studies Russian and plans to trace his roots in St Petersburg. Before university, Alex spends six months in South America, working as a gaucho on a ranch in Argentina and later in the wild landscapes of Chilean Patagonia. There he meets a Russian businessman and his wife—an encounter that will unexpectedly open the door to the country that has long fascinated him. In Russia, Alex’s search for his family history takes him deep into Siberia, where he discovers distant relatives and meets Olga Derevenko. What begins as a tense first meeting soon becomes a powerful romance. But Alex’s connection to Russia will draw him into far more dangerous territory. Back in London, his flawless Russian catches the attention of a shadowy British intelligence officer known only as Colonel Jack. A Russian spy working secretly for Britain has been exposed after uncovering a vast corruption scheme reaching into the highest levels of the Kremlin. Extracting him from Russia will require someone who can move unnoticed across the country—and Alex is the perfect candidate. As Russian security services close in, Alex is thrust into a deadly mission across the vastness of Russia, where courage, loyalty and survival are tested at every turn. The Black Stone is an international thriller of secrets, espionage and divided loyalties, moving from the English countryside to Patagonia, St Petersburg and the immense landscapes of Siberia.

Morecambe Bay, Lancashire: After his father’s death, a son clears out his parents’ house. When he finds a series of haunting photographs of Morecambe Bay, taken by his father towards the end of his life, it sparks a journey through the scattered memories and broken connections of five generations of family history. Flowing from the vibrant post-war Jewish community of London's east end, to the quiet suburban streets of Stanmore, and back to the Lancashire coast, the story cascades down through each generation’s shifting perspective. A wife appeases her charismatic yet destructive husband; a son reimagines the jigsaw of his mother’s life; a granddaughter tries to heal the traumas of the past. What Fools We Have Been is an exploration of memory, identity, and the trail of damage left in the wake of wartime trauma. It asks: What is it that makes us who we are? Is it possible to repair the wreckage of the past?

When Chaplain Rob Llewellyn arrives at the Australian Army’s basic training centre, few know what to make of him. He’s quiet, intensely private, and watches more than he speaks. His predecessor left in disgrace, and no one expects this new padre to last long. But Rob Llewellyn is not what he seems. What no one knows is that he was once a Royal Marine sniper—an elite marksman forged in combat, fluent in violence, and shaped by losses he never speaks of. He’s put the rifle down, traded camouflage for the cross, and come to serve in a new way. But that doesn’t mean he’s forgotten how to survive. As Rob navigates suspicion from recruits and officers alike he begins to confront not only their pain, but his own. Haunted by the past, and compelled to protect those in his care, Rob is forced to ask himself: can a man trained to kill ever truly become a man of peac? choes in the Wind is a gripping exploration of trauma, identity, and redemption—a story of a soldier-turned-shepherd trying to help others heal, even as he struggles to forgive himself.

After a year away from the Army, ex-Royal Marine sniper turned Australian Army Padre, Rob Llewellyn, and his wife Anne begin a new chapter in Queensland. Anne, now Chief of Staff to a Combat Brigade, is quietly anxious-Rob's last deployment to Afghanistan left deep scars, and she fears his return to chaplaincy, this time with an Army Aviation Regiment, may reopen old wounds. But Anne has challenges of her own. A hostile work environment and ghosts from her past threaten her hard-won stability. Meanwhile, a local journalist begins targeting the military with biting exposes-undermining morale and casting doubt on the institution they've both given their lives to serve. As the pressure mounts, Rob and Anne find themselves reckoning not just with their roles, but with the hidden cost of their years in uniform-and the sobering truth that some of the deepest wounds aren't inflicted by war, but by the lives they've tried to build in its wake. The Devil in Downdraft is a gripping, quietly devastating novel of psychological pressure, institutional fragility, and hard-won love-marking a turning point in the Rob Llewellyn series as the couple begin to reckon with everything they've carried... and everything they can no longer ignore.

Newly married and freshly returned to service, Rob Llewellyn is deployed at short notice to Afghanistan. As he adjusts to the brutal pace of combat operations, his wife Anne - still in Australia - is blindsided by a war crimes investigation into an incident she believed long buried. Separated by continents but united by pressure, Rob and Anne are forced to confront more than physical distance. Each faces battles they cannot share, in systems that demand silence and reward obedience. And as the true cost of service comes into focus, they begin to see that the greatest threat may not come from the Taliban - but from within. A story of love under fire, institutional betrayal, and the unseen injuries of war, A Wind of Bitter Tears is a powerful exploration of what happens when the uniform protects everything... except the people who wear it.

This remarkable memoir pulls back the curtain on Boris Yeltsin—the man behind the presidency — through the eyes of his former son-in-law, Alexey Dyachenko. Offering a rare perspective from inside Russia's First Family, Dyachenko takes readers beyond politics and headlines, revealing the human side of a leader often obscured by myth and stereotype. With candour, warmth, and humour, he recounts both historic moments on the world stage and the private realities of life under relentless public scrutiny. From state visits and global encounters to family dinners and quiet reflections, the narrative explores themes of resilience, identity, and personal growth in the shadow of immense power. This is not a political memoir, but an intimate portrait of Boris Yeltsin as husband, father, and grandfather — told openly and honestly by someone who lived within the inner circle. For the first time, we glimpse the man as his family knew him: flawed, resilient, deeply human.

This remarkable memoir pulls back the curtain on Boris Yeltsin—the man behind the presidency — through the eyes of his former son-in-law, Alexey Dyachenko. Offering a rare perspective from inside Russia's First Family, Dyachenko takes readers beyond politics and headlines, revealing the human side of a leader often obscured by myth and stereotype. With candour, warmth, and humour, he recounts both historic moments on the world stage and the private realities of life under relentless public scrutiny. From state visits and global encounters to family dinners and quiet reflections, the narrative explores themes of resilience, identity, and personal growth in the shadow of immense power. This is not a political memoir, but an intimate portrait of Boris Yeltsin as husband, father, and grandfather — told openly and honestly by someone who lived within the inner circle. For the first time, we glimpse the man as his family knew him: flawed, resilient, deeply human.

The autobiography of one of the last standing insiders, 'Fast Tracks and Dark Deals', is a surgical dissection of the business of sport and its evolution over the past fifty years from a cottage industry to a trillion-dollar business. Fast-paced and edgy, it profiles the characters and events that gave birth to the sports biz. Along the way, readers encounter dazzling highs and sobering lows, as wars, scandals, and economic crises threaten to pull the whole spectacle apart. The story is told from a seat close enough to hear the whispers in the corridor yet distant enough to see the broader patterns, the fragile alliances, the unexpected friendships, and the bold ideas that reshaped global sport. 'Fast Tracks and Dark Deals' offers unique business insights from someone who was a major player in many of them, who knew everyone and has been everywhere in the labyrinth of world sport, even its dark corners. The final part provides a telling and perhaps unsettling prediction for the next fifty years. Forewords from Dr Thomas Bach, IOC President, and Bernie Ecclestone, F1 Supremo.

Maremma Mia is a warm, witty chronicle of one family’s adventure transforming an old farmhouse and olive grove in remote Tuscany into a home. Set in the Maremma — “the new Chianti” — the story unfolds through the seasons, capturing both the beauty and unpredictability of life abroad. From the nearby medieval town of Suvereto to the wild hills, fertile valley and coastline steeped in Etruscan mystery, the book weaves together the region’s landscape, food, wines, flora, fauna and traditions with vivid portraits of its people. Along the way, it explores the Maremma’s extraordinary history — from imperial assassinations and Napoleonic upheaval to partisan defiance in World War II. Both an evocative travel memoir and a love letter to an unspoilt corner of Italy, Maremma Mia is for anyone who’s ever dreamed of making a vision come true.

While the Music Lasts is Jim Powell's fourth and most ambitious novel. Spanning four decades and moving between Britain, France and America, it is a timely chronicle of the generation that came of age in the post-war world. They championed freedom, blew the lid off convention and set out to change society – but did they? Published in two volumes, this powerful story captures the zeitgeist of the extraordinary times through which this generation has lived. The second volume, Arriving Where We Started, opens in New Mexico in 1988, with narrator Tony Gethyn visiting his traumatised Vietnam veteran friend, and later moving to New York. Reflecting the onset of globalisation, some friends from earlier years have moved to New York or visit it often. Among them is the novel's socially dysfunctional anti-hero, now a property tycoon bestriding the global financial markets. Also in New York is someone for whom Tony has long held a candle, first met as a barmaid in a Cambridge pub, now a broadsheet journalist. By the time Tony returns England in 1992, some his friends there have climbed several rungs up the ladders of politics, law, global finance and the media; others have stalled or taken a fall. We follow their triumphs and tragedies through the decade to 9/11 and its reverberations and on to the economic meltdown of 2008.

Tamesis, a lyrical journey along the River Thames, where water, history and humanity interlace in both intimate and expansive verse composed by Edmund Hall, a lifelong sailor and volunteer RNLI lifeboatman. Hall's verses capture the river, not as a postcard but as a living, breathing force - by turns majestic, dangerous, and tender. His poems flow from Oxfordshire tributaries to London's tidal reaches, weaving together personal experience, urban memory, and ancient echoes of the river's role in shaping lives. With a foreword by Sir Ian McKellen, this collection places the Thames within a cultural and emotional landscape that feels at once timeless and contemporary. Hall's verse, at times reflective and elegiac, at times raw with grit and immediacy, recalls the everyday realities of service on the lifeboat as much as it celebrates the beauty of a sunset on Barn Elms Reach or the stillness of Sonning's trout pools. The river here is never mere scenery - it is character, companion, and witness. The book is illustrated with hand-drawn images inspired by the poems. Illustrated by Gary Partridge, a Coldstream Guards veteran turned artist, Tamesis pairs the words and emotions of the verses, with a series of unique images inspired by them.

Bradley Whitaker returns to South Africa to take charge of Chanting Clover, his family's prestigious racehorse stud farm. With Colonel Solomon Tlale dead, Bradley dares to believe the long shadow of vengeance has finally lifted. But peace is an illusion. As 2010 draws to a close, whispers of Tlale's vendetta resurface. When Julie, wife of champion jockey Thabo Biyela, is brutally murdered and their young daughter abducted, the Whitakers are once more plunged into terror. A desperate search begins. Guided only by the fragile visions of a gifted clairvoyant, Bradley follows a trail of secrets buried in the hills of Shongweni. Each step draws him deeper into a dangerous game-one that escalates further with the arrival of Tlale's charismatic lawyer son. In this electrifying conclusion to the Whitaker trilogy, Bradley must confront a labyrinth of deception, betrayal, and blood ties before vengeance destroys them all.

In October 1939, eighteen-year-old Tony Fowle took a day off school to enlist. Twelve years later, he was a decorated officer in the Royal Artillery, winning the Military Cross for gallantry in war-torn Korea. This extraordinary memoir - drawn from Tony's own vivid letters - traces his transformation from raw recruit to seasoned soldier. In 1942, he narrowly survived the brutal Battle of Knightsbridge in the Western Desert, before an unexpected posting to the Indian Army opened up a life of astonishing contrasts: desert warfare, Himalayan frontiers, and riding with mountain artillery units that seemed torn from the pages of Kipling. From dusty camps to palatial bungalows, and from 'scraps' in Kashmir to the bitter cold of Korea, Tony's story is one of personal liberation, loyalty and adventure on a truly global scale. Along the way, it sheds fresh light on two of the 20th century's lesser-known conflicts - and on a life lived with courage and curiosity in equal measure.