| Julian Stockwin | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | (1944-01-15) January 15, 1944 (age 80) Basingstoke, Hampshire, England |
| Occupation | Novelist |
| Genre | Historical action-adventure |
| Notable works | Kydd, Artemis, Seaflower, Mutiny, Quarterdeck, Tenacious, Command, The Admiral's Daughter, Treachery, Invasion, Victory, Conquest, Betrayal, Pasha, The Silk Tree, Stockwin's Maritime Miscellany |
| Website | |
| www | |
Julian Stockwin MBE (born 1944 in Basingstoke, Hampshire, England) is an author of historical action-adventure fiction. As well as the Kydd Series he has written two standalone novels The Silk Tree and The Powder of Death.
Biography
Born in 1944, Stockwin soon developed a love for the sea, having an uncle, Tom Clay, who was a seaman in square-rigged ships and had sailed around Cape Horn in the Cutty Sark.
After grammar school, his father sent him to sea-training school at Indefatigable at age 14. He joined the Royal Navy at 15 and transferred to the Royal Australian Navy when his family emigrated. Stockwin served eight years, and was eventually rated petty officer.
Stockwin attended the University of Tasmania to read Far Eastern studies and psychology. He did post-graduate work in cross-cultural psychology. He got involved in the manufacture and design of computers and software development. Returning to the navy and the Royal Navy Reserve, Stockwin was honoured with an MBE. and retired as lieutenant commander.
He returned to the United Kingdom in 1990 and started to write in 1996. He currently resides in Ivybridge, Devon.
Works
Thomas Kydd series
| # | Title | Publisher | Publication Date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kydd 1793 | Hodder & Stoughton | 2001 | |
| A wig maker from Guildford, Thomas Kydd finds himself pressed into the service of the Crown as a landsman. His first berth is aboard HMS Duke William, where he befriends Nicholas Renzi. | ||||
| 2 | Artemis 1794 | Hodder & Stoughton | 2002 | |
| Now berthed in Artemis, Kydd journeys to the Pacific and China. | ||||
| 3 | Seaflower 1795 | Hodder & Stoughton | 2003 | |
| Kydd and Renzi are shipped to the Caribbean. There they join the cutter Seaflower. | ||||
| 4 | Mutiny 1797 | Hodder & Stoughton | 2004 | |
| The Nore mutiny finds Kydd with split loyalties – between his duty and his shipmates. | ||||
| 5 | Quarterdeck 1798 | Hodder & Stoughton | 2005 | |
| After being promoted to Lieutenant after the Nore Mutiny, Thomas Kydd joins Tenacious serving in Canada. | ||||
| 6 | Tenacious 1798 | Hodder & Stoughton | 2005 | |
| Kydd's ship Tenacious takes part in the Battle of the Nile. | ||||
| 7 | Command 1801–1802 | Hodder & Stoughton | 2006 | |
| Kydd is assigned as Commander of Teazer, patrolling the waters around Malta and the Mediterranean. When peace is declared he resigns his commission and sails to the antipodes as captain of a merchant ship. | ||||
| 8 | The Admiral's Daughter 1803 | Hodder & Stoughton | 2007 | |
| War with France resumes. Again in command of Teazer, Kydd has challenges both naval and relational as he encounters an Admiral's daughter, the sophisticated Persephone Lockwood. | ||||
| 9 | Treachery 1803 (aka The Privateer's Revenge in the USA) | Hodder & Stoughton | 2008 | |
| Kydd is disgraced and leaves naval service. However he takes to the sea again as a privateer. | ||||
| 10 | Invasion 1804 | Hodder & Stoughton | 2009 | |
| Exonerated and back in Naval service, Kydd encounters the rocket inventor Robert Fulton. | ||||
| 11 | Victory 1805 | Hodder & Stoughton | 2010 | |
| Our hero takes part in the build-up to and the Battle of Trafalgar off the coast of Spain. | ||||
| 12 | Conquest 1806 | Hodder & Stoughton | 2011 | |
| Cape Town, a Dutch colony, is to be taken; Kydd joins a joint expedition of land- and sea-based forces. | ||||
| 13 | Betrayal 1806 | Hodder & Stoughton | 2012 | |
| Kydd travels from South Africa to Buenos Aires to take part in Commodore Popham's audacious attack. | ||||
| 14 | Caribbee 1806 | Hodder & Stoughton | 2013 | |
| The sugar trade, vital to British interests, is threatened. Kydd must respond. | ||||
| 15 | Pasha 1807 | Hodder & Stoughton | 2014 | |
| Istanbul and the Dardanelles are the setting for conflict and intrigues. Kydd’s 'particular friend' Renzi is right at the heart of things. | ||||
| 16 | Tyger 1807 | Hodder & Stoughton | 2015 | |
| Kydd gains command of HMS Tyger at a critical moment in his career. | ||||
| 17 | Inferno 1807 | Hodder & Stoughton | 2016 | |
| The Danish fleet is the focus of British and French attention; with Napoleon's forces rapidly approaching Copenhagen diplomacy is vital. | ||||
| 18 | Persephone 1807 | Hodder & Stoughton | 2017 | |
| Kydd, now a celebrated hero, takes HMS Tyger to Lisbon and meets his old flame Persephone Lockwood. | ||||
| 19 | The Baltic Prize 1808 | Hodder & Stoughton | 2017 | |
| At short notice Tyger is called to join a newly assembled fleet and sent to the Baltic and the only remaining continental ally to Great Britain, the kingdom of Sweden. Kydd finds he is to serve under Sir James Saumarez, a Vice-Admiral whom he has encountered before. | ||||
| 20 | The Iberian Flame 1808 | Hodder & Stoughton | 2018 | |
| The Iberian peninsula is in ferment and Bonaparte seeks to carve up Portugal and install his brother Joseph as King of Spain. Renzi is sent to incite opposition to France's intentions in Spain. Kydd becomes embroiled in support of the British expeditionary force in northwestern Spain. | ||||
| 21 | A Sea of Gold 1809 | Hodder & Stoughton | 2018 | |
| Back in London after Corunna, Kydd is again the hero. Soon, thrust into the forefront of the action at the insistence of Lord Thomas Cochrane, the Basque Roads are the scene of his next encounter with the French. In addition financial ruin beckons. | ||||
| 22 | To the Eastern Seas 1810 | Hodder & Stoughton | 2019 | |
| The Dutch East Indies and their spice trade attract France and Britain. Admiral Pellew and his force including Kydd attempt to intervene and colonialist Stamford Raffles persuades Kydd to aim at the Moluccas rather than take a more steady approach. | ||||
| 23 | Balkan Glory 1811 | Hodder & Stoughton | 2020 | |
| Now in the Adriatic, Kydd has even caught the attention of Bonaparte himself. Kydd and his small fleet are to harass the enemy in this region of ocean whilst Renzi is to stop Dubourdieu. The route to India is the prize. | ||||
| 24 | Thunderer 1812 | Hodder & Stoughton | 2021 | |
| An invasion fleet is being mustered across the channel from Britain, Kydd must investigate; but he now has a ship of the line the 74 gun "Thunderer". Is this the invasion long feared or is it targeted elsewhere? | ||||
| 25 | Yankee Mission 1812 | Hodder & Stoughton | 2022 | |
| The US navy are beginning to fall on frigates of the Royal Navy, so who should the admiralty send to deal with the threat other than their highly successful and much decorated Sir Thomas Kidd and with a crack frigate at his command. | ||||
| 26 | Sea of Treason 1813 | Hodder & Stoughton | 2023 | |
| Returning to England from America Kydd again takes command of Thunderer and is sent to the Bermuda and the Caribbean. | ||||
| 27 | Admiral 1814 | Hodder & Stoughton | forthcoming 10 Oct 2024 | |
Other historical fiction
- The Silk Tree (2014) A fictional account of the bringing silkworm eggs to the Byzantine Empire from China.
- The Powder of Death (2016) A fictional account of how gunpowder came to England and its use in cannons.
Non-fiction works
- Stockwin's Maritime Miscellany (2009)
Footnotes
- ^ Stockwin, Julian. "Stockwin's official biography". julianstockwin.com. Archived from the original on 31 December 2012. Retrieved 6 July 2007.
- Blake (agent), Carole. "Agent's page". blakefriedmann. Archived from the original on 29 September 2007. Retrieved 6 July 2007.
- "Page 1 | Supplement 51171, 30 December 1987 | London Gazette | the Gazette".
- "Julian Stockwin". Historic Naval Fiction. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
External links
- Julian Stockwin's Official Web Site
- Julian Stockwin on Twitter
- Interview with Julian Stockwin
- Julian Stockwin's Facebook Page
- Interview with Julian Stockwin (2010)