Julian Stockwin
Agent: Isobel Dixon
Assistant: Finlay Charlesworth
Biography: Author of the Thomas Kydd novels, a series of 25 volumes in which Kydd rises through the decks and his adventures take him around the world. Atmospheric, page-turning narrative, rich with action and great characterisation. Published in many countries around the world, this is the first series to highlight the common seaman in the greatest age of fighting sail.
At 14 Stockwin joined a tough sea-training school, followed by the Royal Navy, transferring to the Royal Australian Navy when his family emigrated. He saw active service in the Far East, the Antarctic, the South Seas and Vietnam, and was on board the Melbourne at the time of its disastrous peace time collision with the Voyager. Later he worked for NATO on the strategic deployment of merchant shipping.
Stockwin is also author of two novels in the Moments of History series, depicting important turning points in history. The first, THE SILK TREE, tells the dramatic story of how the secret of silk was brought from China to the West. This was followed by POWDER OF DEATH, which shows how the nature of warfare was changed forever by the discovery of gunpowder.
Hodder published YANKEE MISSION, the 25th book in the KYDD series, in October 2022, and Mobius published in North America in January 2023.
‘Forrester, Kent, Pope, O'Brian all wrote outstanding tales around their commissioned heroes. From a unique starting point, Stockwin has become another member of the band of great naval fiction writers who have achieved the highest standards of storytelling.’ — Firetrench Reviews
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SEA OF TREASON
Historical fiction, 384 pages,
Hodder & Stoughton, October 2023
KYDD 26: Following his recovery after a savage wounding in America, Kydd returns to England to re-assume command of his ship-of-the-line, Thunderer, which is sent to the remote station of Bermuda.
YANKEE MISSION
Historical fiction, 384 pages
Hodder, Oct 2022
1812. Off the coast of Brazil, HMS Java, a proud British 38-gun frigate, is captured in battle by the American USS Constitution - signaling across the world's oceans a challenge to Britain's naval premiership that cannot be ignored.
Back in England Captain Sir Thomas Kydd is enjoying a moment of normal life with his wife and his newborn son. With his Thunderer in dock receiving some well-earned repairs he is, momentarily, without a command. It's a position the Admiralty does not leave him in for long, and he is soon given a mission: engage the young republic in a fair fight, frigate against frigate, and restore the Navy's reputation. And they have just the ship and crew for him . . . Tyger.
But on reaching the US east coast, Kydd and his trusted Tygers realise that the hardest part of their mission will be drawing out one of the Yankee men-o'-war to engage in battle - especially once the Americans get wind of his purpose. It's a tall order, requiring every ounce of the crew's guile and persistence - and when fortune turns against them, Kydd finds not only his career, but his life, hanging in the balance.
THE POWDER OF DEATH
Historical fiction, 384 pages
Allison & Busby, August 2016
The dramatic re-discovery of gunpower after it was deliberately hidden for centuries. Adventure story based on facts.
KYDD
Historical fiction, 448 pages
Hodder & Stoughton, October 2004
KYDD 1. Thomas Kydd, a wigmaker's son, is forced into a harsh, unforgiving world when he is press-ganged into the navy. Life below decks in the 18th century is hard, but he comes to love it as he learns the ways of the sea, and forms friendships with other men, both pressed and volunteers.