. J. William Whitaker has released the second book in a series of historical fiction, The Toll of Folly. It is the sequel to his first work, Some Damn Fool Thing and explores from the perspective of four young Parisians as well as key historic figures the crucial days when The Great War broke out across Europe. History is a narrative built on the summed experience of lives over a […]
The first French Republic arising out of the events of the Revolution seemed to have its origins shaped more by passion and spontaneity rather than any rational preconception. In fact at its onset it was the product of much previous thought regarding ethics and political systems as well as a reaction to events an ocean away. France in the last decades of the old regime was being transformed from a […]
Any portrayal of France in the first decades of the Twentieth Century often shows societal divisions enhanced by the often bitter consequences of Gallic passion. Since politics is a primary vehicle to arbitrate disagreement, life in these often turbulent times can be better understood through an understanding of the Third Republic which provided the governmental framework for the French to quarrel- a practice for which they are widely famous. The […]
Readers of William Whitaker’s Some Damn Fool Thing have been introduced to the events of March 31, 1905 in its first chapters, but from the perspective of over one hundred years it is difficult to appreciate the the basis and extent of the reaction that a speech by Kaiser Wilhelm elicited that day. The seeds for the dramatic response provoked by Wilhelm had been first sown some forty years previously […]
Readers surmise that fiction writers start a book with a blank page of limitless options. In reality every writer is constrained by past experience and predilection; nowhere are the limits more severe than in writing fiction based on history. To craft such a narrative, past events not only demand a fixed time setting but also a cast of characters integral to the historic events. More importantly the sum of their […]
In recent years I have often asked myself what is a man well into the autumn of his life doing writing historical fiction. It certainly isn’t for notoriety or fortune. I have spent the greater part of my life analysing probabilities, first as a cardiologist and more recently as an investor in fledgling companies, and from that experience I understand the probability of any writer gaining either is a mathematical […]
Hello and welcome to the Wonderings section, created to provide specific commentary on the writings of William Whitaker, general insight into the creative process and thoughts on various topics some related to the writing included on this site.