“From Wig to Sword” by Howard Giffard is published
About the Book:
This is the first in a series of novels involving espionage, love and intrigue moving between England and America during the American Civil War.
The plot weaves between the quiet cathedral town of Hereford, the streets and taverns of Victorian London , the heaving emigrant port of Liverpool, New York immersed in war and commerce and the draft riots , southern plantations , and Richmond forever engulfed with the threat of invasion, politics and espionage. The drama involves real events and real people such as Allan Pinkerton the founder of the detective agency, President Lincoln, General Robert E. Lee and the famous spies – Rose Greenhow, Belle Boyd and Elizabeth Van Lew.
Richard Clarke, a young English law student, runs away from a claustrophobic life in his father’s solicitor’s office to enlist in the Union Army. Early on arrival in New York, he is befriended by an influential family who realise his Englishness and his youth would make him useful for espionage work in Richmond, Virginia. Kate Turner is the daughter of a plantation owning family in South Carolina who (out of keeping with the period) has been brought up as a competent business woman and is left to run the plantation when her father and brothers leave for war. The Confederate government calls her to Richmond and she becomes involved in espionage. The story embraces slavery, the emancipation movement, military action, and a daring escape from the infamous Libby Prison.
Excerpt from the Book:
“It was a good night for passing unnoticed. The streets were deserted. Places of entertainment were empty with doors firmly shut. Visibility was poor comprising white ground, black shadowy buildings and a thick, heavy curtain of slanting, driving snow.
Richard eventually battled his way near to the address, opened his coat and took out his watch. Agents were advised to wear watches that did not have covers to them – it made it easier to see the time in an emergency. He looked at the watch closely in the darkness and managed to see the black hands against the white face. It was a quarter to ten. The rules that had been engrained in him were that he arrives at his appointment not more than two minutes before or two minutes after – to allow for the differences in people’s watches. He walked briskly about neighbouring streets – nobody would be out on such a night unless they were about their own urgent business in which case they wouldn’t be interested in his. Alleyways could not be used. Not only could they be harbouring enemy agents or police but they were fertile ground for thieves.
The door opened as he reached it and closed behind him engulfing him in blackness. Richard heard the hiss of a light being struck, it flickered and a candle was lit. A hand cupped round the wick preventing it being extinguished by the strong current of air. The flame guttered and then burnt more strongly. A weak, flickering light gave Richard a difficult, strained vision. He could make out a dark shape which held the candle.”
FROM WIG TO SWORD by Howard Giffard is available in paperback from:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Wig-Sword-3rd-Howard-Giffard/dp/1909878049
It is also available to download in e-book format from:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Wig-Sword-3rd-Howard-Giffard-ebook/dp/B00FH1IJAU
Press/Media Contact Details:
New Generation Publishing
Tel. 01234 712 064
E-mail: info@newgeneration-publishing.com