Andrew Williams Books In Order

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Andrew Williams is a British born former journalist turned author best known for writing historical thrillers. He was born in Sheffield though he spent much of his childhood in Lincolnshire. He went to college at Oxford University where he studied English. Upon graduation, he got a job with the BBC where he would work for more than a decade covering some of the biggest stories of his time. One of the highlights of his career was his coverage of the Srebrenica massacre in 1995. The coverage made the shortlist for the Emmy and was part of the evidence presented to the United Nations War Crime Tribunal. Between 1995 and 2005 he was a writer and director of many documentaries for the BBC and a range of international broadcast houses. It was during this time that he wrote and produced “The Battle of the Atlantic,” the award-winning documentary series. He is also credited with writing “D-Day to Berlin” and “The Battle of the Atlantic,” two novels about the Second World War that went on to become bestselling titles. He wrote his debut novel “The Interrogator” in 2009 and the novel made the shortlist for the Ellis Peters Historical Fiction Award and the Ian Fleming Thriller of the Year Award. The novel was also named 2009 debt thriller by The Daily Mail while his second title “To Kill A Tsar” made the shortlist for the Crimefest Award and The Scott Prize for Historical Fiction.

Once he had written his first novel “The Interrogator,” he decided that he would split his time between television and writing. However, that was not to be since there were just too many stories in his head wanting to get out. Since his children are now older, he mostly writes fiction and quit TV. He spends much of his day writing only breaking to listen to the news and grab some lunch in between. Interviewing with Writing Magazine, he asserted that he does a lot of research for his novels. However, he gets most of his characters from real people or from the combinations of people he knows or he interacts with. He always wants his novels to be as realistic as possible and since most of his novels are historical they closely follow the time frames of the events and the historical figures though he has a little bit of leeway. For instance, in “The Interrogator” he wanted to bring out the feel of naval intelligence during the campaigns of 1941. In the “Battle of the Atlantic,” he wanted to bring out the feelings of resentment and the cruelty of the Russian terrorists that led the revolution. For his efforts, he has been described as one of the best English authors of the historical fiction genre.

Andrew Williams’s debut novel “The Interrogator” is set in 1941 where the Nazis of the fourth Reich are in control of Europe. Britain is the only nation left standing and now depends on its powerful but bloodied navy to survive. Hitler has not yet given up on his dream of becoming master of all as his submarines are active on the Atlantic sinking any convoys heading to the British Isles. Lieutenant Douglas Lindsay is back home from the war after he was rescued from the sea after his ship was torpedoed in the Atlantic. He is unable to forget the events of that day at sea and decides to jump right back in. He joins naval intelligence as an interrogator of captured U-boat crew. He strongly believes that the Nazis have broken the secret codes of the British navy. But as he is a damaged outsider and lone voice no one really listens to him. In fact, they begin to doubt if he can be trusted given how high the stakes are. He becomes even more desperate and isolated as the Luftwaffe reduces the cities of Britain to rubble and U-Boats sink even more ships at sea. No one, not even Mary Henderson his love who is an employee for British intelligence believes him. He finally decides to do something unprecedented by trying to capture Jurgen Mohr the commander of the U-Boat that sunk his ship.

“To Kill a Tsar” the second novel by Williams is an exploration of the methods and motives of terrorists and how they use violence to subdue political opponents. The techniques are used by terrorists and the secret police who are trying to catch terrorists. One of the very first terrorist organizations in the world named The People’s Will was responsible for assassinating the Tsar and their story is combined with that of Frederick Hadfield. Hadfield is an English doctor that is hopelessly in love with a terrorist and their relationship makes her come under suspicion in her organization. The story opens in 1879 St Petersburg where Cossack guards foil an assassination attempt on the Tsar. In the chaos, no one saw a dark-haired beautiful woman calmly exit the scene. Russia is full of revolutionaries at a time when Tsar Alexander is forced to remain a virtual prisoner in his palace, afraid for his life. The ruthless secret police are all over the country looking for the people responsible for trying to overthrow the Imperial Regime and kill the Tsar. The revolutionaries have been called Nihilists, which is quite an exaggeration since all they want is freedom of speech and a more representative government. In all fairness though, the previous Tsar intended to introduce some of the reforms demanded before his assassination but now that all hell has broken loose, state repression has been unleashed on the populace.

Andrew Williams’s “The Poison Tide” is set in 1915 where the Germans are heading towards Ireland. The British government is facing an existential crisis as it battles Irish nationalists at home while it cannot break the deadlock on the Western Front. The government has set up a new Secret Service Bureau whose best agent is Sebastian Wolff. He is charged with finding two people – an American doctor working for the Germans to develop a weapon that they intend to use against the United States; a former national hero that was now working for the Germans much to the revulsion of his countrymen. His mission to take out the two traitors will see him go undercover in halls of government in Berlin and then to the United States. Wolff is in a rush against time to stop German U-Boats from cutting off the Atlantic lifeline for Britain. If the U-Boats manage to cripple Atlantic trade to the Isles, Britain will fall to the Germans.