316 ratings | 95 reviews | avg rating:4.30

more photos (1)

David’s Year In Books

David’s 2024 Year in Books

Take a look at David’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.

Go to David’s 2024 Year in Books

David Ebsworth’s Followers (104)

David’s Bookshelves

to-read (4)
currently-reading (2)
read (315)

David’s Friends (235)

Erin (Historical Fiction Reader)

4,947 books | 2,561 friends

Andrea Stoeckel

18,902 books | 198 friends

Mercedes Rochelle

485 books | 642 friends

Kathy

3,426 books | 180 friends

Paul

2,146 books | 76 friends

Audrey Terry

9,308 books | 131 friends

Debbie Young

555 books | 1,372 friends

Erika Robuck

812 books | 1,490 friends

More friends…

David Ebsworth

Goodreads Author

Born

in Liverpool, The United Kingdom

June 17, 1949

Website

http://www.davidebsworth.com

Twitter

EbsworthDavid

Genre

Historical Fiction

Influences

Rosemary Sutcliff, Patrick O'Brian, Bernard Cornwell, Hilary Mantel. T ...more

Member Since

March 2012

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/goodreadscomdavid_ebsworth

edit data

David Ebsworth is the pen name of writer, Dave McCall, a former negotiator and Regional Secretary for Britain's Transport & General Workers’ Union. He was born in Liverpool (UK) but has lived since 1980 in Wrexham, North Wales, with his wife, Ann. Following their retirement in 2008, the couple have spent about six months of each year in southern Spain. Dave began to write seriously in the following year, 2009. ...more

Learn more
Ask the Author

To ask David Ebsworth questions, please sign up.

Popular Answered Questions

How do you get inspired to write?

David Ebsworth I enjoy telling stories that I wish somebody else had written for me but which have so far been overlooked. They are therefore generally set outside t…moreI enjoy telling stories that I wish somebody else had written for me but which have so far been overlooked. They are therefore generally set outside the most “popular” periods of historical fiction. Yet, with the bicentenary of Waterloo coming up – and the Napoleonic era remaining one of my personal favourite periods of history – it was inevitable that I would be drawn towards setting my fourth book around this most famous and important of battles.(less)

flag

1 like · like
Comment

Where did you get the idea for your most recent book?

David Ebsworth It was really inspired when I read a factual account of French Napoleonic cantinière, Madeleine Kintelberger, who served with Bonaparte’s 7th Hussars …moreIt was really inspired when I read a factual account of French Napoleonic cantinière, Madeleine Kintelberger, who served with Bonaparte’s 7th Hussars during the Austerlitz campaign and was caught up in fighting against the Russian Cossacks while protecting her children who were also with her on the battlefield. Her husband had been killed by cannon fire and Madeleine held off the Cossacks with a sword that she had picked up, losing her own right arm in the process, being slashed and speared by lances on several occasions, and being shot in each leg. She was pregnant with twins at the time. The Russians took her prisoner and she eventually returned to France with her children, where she was received in person by the Emperor and awarded a military pension. Yet the most astonishing aspect of all this was the fact that Madeleine was simply one of hundreds of women serving in such positions in the French army’s front lines, many of them with similar incredible tales and yet largely ignored in fiction and non-fiction alike. Madeleine did not serve at Waterloo, but other cantinières, like Thérèse Jourdan and Marie Tête-du-Bois certainly did so.

And then, almost immediately afterwards, I also came across the real-life exploits of Marie-Thérèse Figueur who had joined the French revolutionary army in 1793 in her own right as a woman and who served with distinction in various Dragoon regiments through most of Bonaparte’s major campaigns until 1814 when she retired and opened a table d’hôte restaurant in Paris. Once again, her story was not particularly unusual. She also did not fight at Waterloo but we know, for example, that at least one or two women soldiers died on the battlefield – including the unidentified “beautiful” woman whose body was found in the aftermath of the fight by Volunteer Charles Smith of the 95th Rifles.

So the proposition was simple. What if two fictional women, but based on the real-life characters of Kintelberger and Figueur, were brought together by something more than a simple twist of fate during Bonaparte’s final campaign, in June 1815, that culminated in the Battle of Waterloo? And what if that “something” had a mystical element that would have been very typical of the age’s flirtations between the scientific and the spiritual?
(less)

flag

1 like · like
Comment

See all 3 answers from David Ebsworth…

Combine Editions
David Ebsworth’s books

Average rating: 4.28 · 436 ratings · 176 reviews · 19 distinct works • Similar authors

	The Assassin's Mark 3.97 avg rating — 107 ratings — published 2013 — 7 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Last Campaign of Marianne Tambour: A Novel of Waterloo 4.47 avg rating — 53 ratings — published 2014 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Blood Among the Threads: A Wrexham Victorian Mystery (Wrexham & Chester Victorian Mysteries Book 1) 4.22 avg rating — 46 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Until the Curtain Falls 4.39 avg rating — 41 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Kraals of Ulundi: A Novel of the Zulu War 4.48 avg rating — 33 ratings — published 2014 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Jacobites' Apprentice 4.24 avg rating — 29 ratings — published 2012 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	A Betrayal of Heroes 4.69 avg rating — 26 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Doubtful Diaries of Wicked Mistress Yale 4.35 avg rating — 17 ratings — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Death Along The Dee 4.50 avg rating — 16 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Lisbon Labyrinth: A Jack Telford Short Read 3.79 avg rating — 14 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by David Ebsworth…

35 posts
David Ebsworth's Blog

The 1867 Siege of Chester Castle!

While I was researching the background to my second Wrexham Victorian crime novel, Death Along The Dee, I came across this slightly strange – and vaguely related – story.

During the English Civil Wars, Royalist Chester (England, of course) had been besieged by Cromwell’s Parliamentarians from July 1643 until April 1645. Well, I knew about that. But I had no idea that, over two hundred years later, Read more of this blog post »

Like • 0 comments • flag

Published on October 02, 2024 06:11

View all 35 posts »

Series by David Ebsworth

Yale Trilogy (3 books)
by

David Ebsworth (Goodreads Author)

4.52 avg rating — 29 ratings

David is Currently Reading

David Ebsworth is currently reading

Death Along The Dee

by David Ebsworth (Goodreads Author)

bookshelves: currently-reading

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Oct 14, 2024 12:44PM

David Ebsworth is currently reading

The Venetian Sanctuary (Venice #8)

by Philip Gwynne Jones

bookshelves: currently-reading

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Oct 09, 2024 09:41PM

rss
David’s Recent Updates

David Ebsworth and 2 other people liked Sonja Charters's review of The Vanilla Killer (The Charity Shop Detective Agency #4): "Oh my, this might be the fourth book in a series that I've not read before - but there was something about this front cover and the premise of the storyline that had me hooked. I wasn't sure what to expect having not read this author before - but thi" Read more of this review »
Dec 12, 2024 08:49AM · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Vanilla Killer by Peter Boland. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Vanilla Killer by Peter Boland <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
David Ebsworth made a comment on Alisa’s review of Death Along The Dee " Thanks Alisa. The review's much appreciated! ...more "
Dec 08, 2024 12:55AM · see review
David Ebsworth made a comment on Sonja Charters’s review of Death Along The Dee " Great review, Sonja - love it! "
Dec 08, 2024 12:55AM · see review
David Ebsworth is now following Fatguyreading and Alisa
Dec 08, 2024 12:54AM
David Ebsworth liked Sonja Charters's review of Death Along The Dee: "This is the second book in the Wrexham Victorian Mystery series and it's been a while since I read the first book back in March - Blood Among The Threads - but this was so easy to fall back into right from the start. What I would say though, is that " Read more of this review »
Dec 08, 2024 12:53AM · see review
David Ebsworth made a comment on Fatguyreading’s review of Death Along The Dee " Many thanks for this wonderful review! "
Dec 04, 2024 11:52PM · see review
David Ebsworth made a comment on kirsty’s review of The King of Kazam " Love the review. Will read this with the ankle-biters! "
Dec 03, 2024 09:57AM · see review
David Ebsworth and 2 other people liked kirsty's review of The King of Kazam: "I read this as part of a read along and the first thing I want to say is how privileged and thankful I feel to firstly have been able to read this amazing book but secondly promote such a good cause. All the proceeds of this book are supporting the t" Read more of this review »
Dec 03, 2024 09:56AM · see review
David Ebsworth liked Tyler Marshall's review of A Deception of Courts (Realm of Fey, #3): "What a rollercoaster! Ive spent the last few amazing weeks of my life devouring this fantasy series and it's safe to say I don't regret a minute of it. Straight off the bat you can tell the dedication and time Ben put into this series. From the amazin" Read more of this review »
Dec 03, 2024 09:56AM · see review

More of David's books…

Quotes by David Ebsworth (?)

“Is it not fear that drives atrocity? It is natural enough to hate our enemies. Of course it is. How could anybody kill another person unless they had learned to hate them? But when you are afraid of them too, terrified by them rather, isn’t that when atrocity begins? Scared beyond reason. We call it the Terror always. For you it’s the Red Terror. For the Republicans it’s the White Terror. But actually the real terror is in the hearts of those who commit the atrocity.”
― David Ebsworth, The Assassin's Mark: A Novel of the Spanish Civil War

1 likes

Topics Mentioning This Author

topics	posts	views	last activity
Authors & Readers...: * Let us know what you are reading	31	36	Jun 12, 2013 12:44PM
Cozy Mysteries : Title and Author game, Round 4	16049	653	Jan 05, 2019 04:49AM
Cozy Mysteries : Mystery ABC's, Round 5	6766	353	May 14, 2020 09:27PM
The Mystery, Crim...: First Name - Last Name	17468	3398	2 hours, 15 min ago