20 Questions with Terry Breverton & Giveaway!

Today I’d like to share with you an interview with Terry Breverton, whose latest book Jasper Tudor: The Man Who Made the Tudor Dynasty was recently published by Amberley Publishing.

Be sure to leave a comment after our Q&A, for your chance to win a copy of Jasper Tudor, kindly donated by Amberley.

Conditions of Entry

For your chance to win a copy of Jasper Tudor, you must be subscribed to On the Tudor Trail’s newsletter (if you are not already, sign up on our homepage).

Then simply leave a comment after this post between now and 28 August 2014. Don’t forget to leave your name and a contact email.

This giveaway is open internationally.

One winner will be randomly selected and contacted by email shortly after the competition closes. Please ensure you’ve added natalie@onthetudortrail.com to your address book to avoid missing my email.

Good luck!

20 Questions with Terry Breverton

1. When did you realise that you wanted to become a writer?

Probably when I left business to enter acadaemia. I found it pretty easy to write articles and conference papers – they were in the business area, but the research skills are the same when writing history books. I was a management consultant for many years, and you get a ‘feel’ for research. Basically I love finding out new things, checking if they’re ‘right’ and getting to the heart of the matter. It’s like consultancy – sometimes people don’t like your findings, but you write what you want to leave behind you. I’m pretty happy with my work – I keep finding out unknown characters or happenings and like to bring them out into the open, hopefully for others to research even further.

2. What sparked your interest in the Tudors?

To be honest, the Angevins, Plantagenets et al are all interesting. These days I write what I’m asked to. I used to be able to submit ideas to Quercus, but they’re hardly doing non-fiction now. It’s difficult to get published, but Amberley use me as I’m quick and not ‘precious’ about any changes they want to make. Unfortunately, I am always given a word limit. It is much, much more difficult than when you can write as much as you want. With Richard III – The King in the Car Park, they wanted to gain from the recent publicity. Luckily, I wanted to knock back all the groundswell of opinion that he did not kill Edward V and Prince Richard. By comparing Henry VII to Richard III, I think I made a pretty good case for him being a regicide, which makes the attempt to get a ‘royal’ to come to his ceremony in Leicester Cathedral rather problematic. Writing that book, I realised the incredible importance of Henry’s uncle Jasper in the Wars of the Roses. The most important thing about the Tudor dynasty is its very importance, if that makes sense. It solidified institutions, began the Empire, put England and Wales on the European stage and saw the beginnings of the Scientific Revolution, the Renaissance and that incredible flowering of literature. And I discovered that Mary wasn’t as ‘bloody’ as painted, and that Henry VIII was never ‘Bluff King Hal’ but a really nasty piece of work.

3. Tell us about your latest book, Jasper Tudor: The Man Who Made the Tudor Dynasty.

I asked Amberley if they were interested, after researching Henry Tudor. Jasper was there at the first battle, at St Albans, and commanding at the last battle, 32 years later at Stoke Field. Without him, Henry would have died. He was a wonderful, unknown man, more important that Warwick, the ‘Kingmaker’. The son of a queen, his life was full of danger with battles, escapes and exiles for three decades. His story of loyalty, courage and never being betrayed needed telling.

4. Why is it important to study history?

That old saying that ‘without a knowledge of history we are condemned to repeat the mistakes of the past’. Just think Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya. That bureaucratic monster the EU is also doomed to split apart, thank Heaven. It gives you an overview like no other – not just events, but the nature of people, literature, beliefs – and it is incredibly interesting – there’s always new stuff to find out.

5. What three new skills would you like to learn?

Play guitar or sax to rock band standards. Paint something other than walls, ceilings, gates, fences and sheds. Sailing or surfing.

6. What are your favourite holiday destinations?

Venice – stayed there eight times between the ages of 17 and 61. Charleston, South Carolina and Seattle – gave talks there on multinationals. Vancouver and Washington – gave talks there on Wales. Paris – all is walkable, and far, far cleaner than London. Just a pity about the waiters and bar-tenders. Italy – all of it – taught in Reggio Emilia, Bologna and Milan. Lisbon – mum and dad used to live near it.

7. What book are you reading now?

Researching for book on kings and queens of England, so I am trying to liven it up a bit with stuff from Ian Crofton’s History without the Boring Bits and Ian Mortimer’s terrific Time Traveller’s Guides. I read three papers every day, and with research for writing I get little time to read for pleasure.

8. Do you use social media?

Chris from Cambria Publishing organised a couple of pages on Facebook but I’m useless at it – I’ve had my own computer since a Ferranti 86, I think in 1986, which ran ms-dos, and still think of them as glorified typewriters. They’re now also brilliant for research and searching books, but I’m not a great fan of social media. I turfed my mobile phone five years back, and was in Rome a couple of years ago with a few people younger than me to watch Wales play Italy at rugby. I’d been a couple of times before, but the others were walking around with their tablets and phones in hand, constantly checking them. I sound like a grumpy old man, which I am, but see little need to pronounce what I’m doing all the time or see pictures of someone’s grand-kid or kitten. Chris said it would help sell books, but I’m too old to learn new tricks, I suppose. Time is so valuable, and I have so much I want to write. Twitter and other stuff seems to do more harm than good to young people. And who wants to know what Stephen Fry had for breakfast?

9. Describe a day in your life when you are writing. Do you follow any rituals?

I get up at any time between 3 and 7, on average at 5. Turn on the computer, get a coffee and start checking emails and researching/writing a book. When Jill wakes up I make her breakfast, get dressed, catch the breakfast TV news and drive to pick up the papers. Then it’s back to my mistress, the computer. I write or research till lunchtime when I eat, read the papers and watch the TV news at the same time. I find it far easier to write in the morning. If I have a deadline I might write until around 8. If there’s nothing on the telly, I’ll write. TV is pretty dire these days – we refuse to subscribe to put more money in Murdoch’s pockets, especially since he started hovering up all the sport. The only thing I make a point of watching is NCIS because the scriptwriters and acting are first rate. I’ll watch repeats quite happily. I’ll also watch any rugby that’s on, but the game has changed to one of brutality – it was Cavalier in the past, with all sizes and flowing. Now it’s full of massive Roundheads just battering each other. I played till I was 40 – today I’d have permanent damage by the age of 30. There’s too much emphasis on size and contact – big hits – it’s very wrong and it cannot be too long before there are massive compensation cases like we’re now seeing in football and the NFL.

10. Which historical figure do you admire most, and why?

When I was a kid, Aneurin Bevan was demonised in the national press, so I thought he was some kind of left-wing wally. I now realise that he was the last honest and principled UK politician. I don’t think that I could aspire to his standards. I must admit that Churchill, as a WW2 war leader with experience in the WW1 trenches, was extraordinary. Not for him the spin doctors and advisors and speech writers of today’s politicians. When you read of Gordon Brown smashing three Nokia mobile phones against a wall in one tantrumental morning, you wonder what he’d have been like leading us in a real war… I suppose the taxpayer paid for his phones. Owain Glynd?r, of course – I edited and published one book on him, and my book on him came out in hardback and softback. It’s far easier to think of people you can dislike intensely – is Blair a historical figure yet?

11. What does your writing space look like?

It’s a pine table in front of a window, utterly cluttered with a lamp as I work a lot in the small hours; a laser printer; a laptop; a large screen; cups of unfinished drink; scraps of paper; two A4 pads, bother full of notes; various pens and pencils; a digital camera; and a full size wireless keyboard with a wireless mouse. It’s a lousy environment but it seems to work. I’m surrounded by boxes of books and cuttings, and keep changing the chair as I cannot find a comfy one.

12. What motivates you?

Iolo Morganwg’s motto was ‘The Truth Against the World’, and I find lots of history books regurgitating wrong facts, e.g. about who invented something, who was heroic and the like. History academics often tend to repeat what they have learned, instead of reaching out and looking at the bigger picture. My mother was orphaned when her father was killed, and relatives burned all his books, articles, musical scores and writings – in some sense I’ve always wanted to make up for that. I sometimes hope he’s looking down on me. I love the surprise of new facts, that no-one else has found out. For instance, Israel Hands served with Blackbeard, gave evidence against him and was supposed to have died in poverty. He features in Treasure Island, as does Black Bart Roberts. In fact, he joined Black Bart, and after Roberts was killed Hands was hung in chains after the greatest pirate trial in history. Roberts is unknown but took twenty times as many ships as Blackbeard and Kidd combined. And when you come on an unknown story, like that of Lewellin Penrose, the feeling of writing is sometimes intense. I flew to Indiana to study the 1770s manuscript, and when I finished transcribing it, I cried in the library. I was so sad to have finished it. I did the same after I’d prepared it for print with the first edition, and also with the rewrite. And I never cry.

13. What is something most people don’t know about you?

I am devastatingly – ugly. I hate telephones, the EU and industrial fishing fleets. I’m ambidextrous. I cannot make my mind up in restaurants – I like everything. I was, I think, the only person to write that Japan was going to hit recession. I’m giving a talk to the Conway Hall Ethical Society in London in November, on how capitalism killed democracy. I’ve written a lot on the effects of multinational companies and tax avoidance leading to an increasing taxation burden on individuals, well before it became news.

14. What are a few of the books on your TBR list?

I should say Proust, I know. I get incredibly little time to read outside the area I am currently researching. We never really go on holidays, which was always a good time to take books. I just downloaded Xenophon’s Anabasis for free on my old Kindle, along with a biog of Belisarius and Pepys’ Diary. I’d like to learn more about Daniel Defoe – a truly remarkable man – it’s always non-fiction, I’m afraid.

15. What was the last movie you saw that you really enjoyed?

That’s difficult. I watched Bette Davis in Now Voyager on the box recently. Lovely film. I’m seriously fed up of new films with no plot and massive CGI. We saw Avatar in 3D. They don’t seem to make intelligent films any more. I like films that make you think and loved everything by Kurosawa – his Throne of Blood, based on MacBeth, galvanised me when they showed it in Manchester University. I think the most entertaining film was ET, and I loved Citizen Kane, The Magnificent Ambersons, the Godfather series and Apocalypse Now. I read all the film reviews, but hardly ever go – there’s nothing that attracts. I wish they’d make films of my Black Bart Roberts, Sir Henry Morgan and Jasper Tudor books. Even better, my The Journal of Penrose, Seaman would make the best film ever.

16. Pet peeves?

Litter thrown from cars – it’s all over country lanes, and I go out with a bin bag sometimes. TV announcers who say ‘tur’, ‘fur’ and ‘uv’ instead of to, for and of. People who romanticise Margaret Thatcher. Lots of stuff that you see on ‘Grumpy Old Men’ TV programmes. Overpaid executives – often bullies rise to the top – I wish there was a cap of £100,000 on council executives, university principals etc. It’s another topic I used to publish on, in another life. The benefits culture and the relentless promotion of multiculturalism in Britain leading to a fragmented society. Children being brought up to know that they can rely on the State to support them, so education does not matter – schools have to revert to stricter discipline and less paperwork for teachers. And go back to traditional ways of teaching English and mathematics – spelling and punctuation matter, and everyone should be able to do mental arithmetic unless they are dyspraxic. We need to learn from other countries, especially Germany, how to teach effectively and efficiently – my Germans students at university had better English literacy levels than native Brits. My favourite was a Welsh student who obviously had never taken French, or possibly read a book, who wrote in a corporate strategy exam ‘day jar view’ – you couldn’t make this up. Freemasonic secrecy. I could write a very long book on what peeves me. People who insist that their bone structure is an excuse of an excess of lard. People who circle car parks trying to find the nearest place to the shop so they don’t have to haul their bodies an extra 20 yards. People who proudly display varicose veins. Tattoos and piercings. Fake tans. Minor ‘celebrities’ who were once on a soap and who think that everyone knows them. Reality TV. Tax exiles. Foreign call centres. Regards, Mr. Grumpy.

17. Are you currently working on any new books?

My ‘Everything You Wanted to Know about the Tudors’ is with Amberley now for publishing before Christmas, and they want a book called Breverton’s Kings and Queens of England by Spring. This year alone I’ve had four books published – The Journal of Penrose, Seaman, Breverton’s World War One Curiosities, Jasper Tudor – Dynasty Maker, and the oncoming Tudors book. I’ve taken a break this summer, the first for years, to do house painting inside and out and to organise almost an acre of garden and stream. It’s been nice to see the sun instead of being hunched over the computer all day. I sometimes work from 4 in the morning until 8 at night. And then get terrible back-ache because I slump when typing. My ‘big book’ will be on Arthur – I’ve researched for 40 years, and it will take 3-4 years to write, but no publisher will want it as it will be too long. He existed and can be identified through my work on Welsh saints.

18. Paperback or e-book?

Print, every time. I bought a Kindle when they first came out, but never use it except for downloading free classical books. My problem with books is that I make notes in them, fold down pages and the like. I use them, rather than leave them for posterity in a charity shop.

19. What do you like to do outside of writing?

Lord, there’s so little time. I used to go to the gym daily when I lived in Glamorgan, but now we’re miles from any reasonable facilities. I like a session on the real ale, but increasingly cannot afford pubs – there’s no money in writing – it works out at about £2 an hour. However, in reality that’s £8 an hour as otherwise I’d be ensconced in a boozer. When Llanybydder rugby club is at home, I watch them. I wish I had more time for bird-watching. We have shedloads of kites and buzzards – see them every day close up. I saw my first Lesser Spotted Woodpecker the other day, on a hazel tree across the lane. They’re secretive but he didn’t see me in my window and I had the binoculars on him for 20 minutes. I tried to make the garden a bird haven. We’ve had redstarts nest this year before returning to Africa, plus pied wagtails, goldfinches, wrens, dunnocks, house sparrows, hedge sparrows, swallows, song thrushes, magpies and robins. Unfortunately a buzzard attacked the swallows’ nest. House martins started to build a nest but abandoned it – they may be back next year. When at Lancaster University I saw my first bittern at Leighton Moss, near where I rented a cottage. That hooked me. I also like looking for new species, to me, of wild flowers. If I see something new, I have to identify it.

20. If you could swap places with a person from the past for one day, who would it be?

That is so hard. Answering the rest of this was easy. We tend to forget how filthy the past was, and how cruel. Possibly Earl Haig when he ordered the Somme attack. Having hindsight, I’d shoot myself instead. Some bloke, who’s an ‘expert’ on Haig, attacked my WW1 book on Amazon for telling the truth about him. For some reason, as with Richard III, people are mixing historical fact with fiction – my Richard III book reviews are either one star from the Richard III Society, or five stars from people who actually ‘read’ the book. On second thoughts, I’d like to have been any one of the British Lions ‘Invincibles’ team in the last match to clinch the series against the All Blacks in 1974. That was when rugby was understandable and flowing, with a minute rule book and when people could understand the referee’s decisions. I’d go back to those rules and put a weight restriction of an average of 14 stone a man on teams. The game is obnoxiously brutal at present with spinal injuries shared equally between huge forwards and massive backs. But I digress…