"After his masterpieces on Germany and England, James Hawes has done it again. His account of Ireland from pre-history to Christianised Brehonism, to colonialism, plantation and contested independence, is a wonder to behold."
Professor Ciaran Martin, Oxford University School of Governance and founding CEO of the UK National Cyber Security Centre
Out March 2026
"James Hawes's view of English history is sharp and vivid and extremely persuasive."
PHILIP PULLMAN
"No one writes history as well as James Hawes or uses the past to make sense of the present so skilfully. This is an urgent and electrifying work that takes you to the heart of England's sickness. Do yourself a favour and read it."
NICK COHEN
"a thorough and absorbing investigation of the English story… Perhaps [Hawes's] greatest skill is in how he brings the story right up to date, able to step back from the current madness with admirable clarity to separate wood and trees in a way most of us would find impossible."
NEW EUROPEAN
"An excellent little book… [Hawes] knows what he's on about and his conclusions are measured, but he favours clear, concise prose over dense academese. He has a sense of humour, and a sharp eye for similarities between then and now."
SPECTATOR
"A daring attempt to remedy the ignorance of the centuries in little over 200 pages… not just an entertaining canter past the most prominent landmarks in German history – also a serious, well-researched and radical rethinking of the continuities in German political life."
THE TABLET
"An excellent, elegantly written overview of German history from the Iron Age to Angela Merkel's chancellorship… Authoritative and accessible."
NEW EUROPEAN
Explore the history of the British isles through 80 extraordinary creations – from Beowulf and the Bayeux Tapestry to Banksy, Stormzy, and beyond. A companion book telling the story of these islands through art, music, buildings and literature.
"Performed with wit and finesse… his book is full of enlightening surprises… [Hawes] is an admirable guide, leading us through this tangled intellectual copse."
THE TIMES
"This wonderful book, a revelation and a scream… wonderfully irreverent."
SCOTSMAN
"Very witty… Both laddish and slyly intelligent, Hawes has his cake and eats it."
TELEGRAPH
"Amusing and intelligent throughout… The tone of the narrative is pitch-perfect."
OBSERVER
"Hawes's cinematic sixth sense ensures that White Powder is well up to speed, with lots of rapid-fire 1940s-style patter, quick scene cuts and jokes."
GUARDIAN
"The sassy, cutting narrative deftly reinforces the argument… and delivers an extremely entertaining read."
THE TIMES
"I have been racking my brains and I cannot remember a book I have read recently which made me laugh more, or as often, as James Hawes's Rancid Aluminium… It is therefore no exaggeration to say that Rancid Aluminium made me laugh more than anything I have read in the past ten years."
THE TIMES
"A very comic and brilliant book… James Hawes has adapted an enjoyable narrative poise of cynical idealism, both a loving and a loathing of modern Britain… A new novelist of prodigious talent."
SPECTATOR