Other exciting historical events of the 20th Century are covered in Bring Out the Banners, Shadow Under the Sea, Calabrian Quest and Song for a Tattered Flag.

The stories range from Ancient Greece ( Crown of Violet) to more recent times and cover (amongst others) the Middle Ages ( The Red Towers of Granada), Elizabethan England ( Cue for Treason, Cloak for a Spy), Restoration London ( Fire on the Wind, Popinjay Stairs), the French Revolution ( Thunder of Valmy), the Bolshevik Revolution ( The White Nights of St Petersburg) and World War II ( Tomorrow is a Stranger, The Arpino Assignment). His sense of fairness and belief in equality for all is a theme explored in many of his books and, within their historical settings, the discerning reader will recognise many parallels with contemporary issues. Through exciting plots, strong characters (female as well as male) and meticulous attention to detail, he introduced his readers to a historical event or period, enabling them to absorb history effortlessly. This was the first of his many historical novels and heralded an approach to writing for young people that was quite radical. He started to fulfil this ambition with the publication of the children’s book, Bows Against the Barons in 1934. After a year he resigned his scholarship and left Oxford for London, intent on becoming a writer. He won a Classics scholarship to Oxford University and, although he loved university life, he found the tuition dull. During his school days at Nottingham High School he wrote stories, poems and a 3-act play which the school performed.

His family were wine merchants but from an early age Geoffrey decided that he would not follow in his father’s footsteps but instead would be a writer. When he began his career, his radical viewpoint was a refreshing change from the conventional and often jingoistic tone of most children's literature of the time, and he was one of the first authors who deliberately set out to appeal to both boys and girls and to feature strong leading characters of both sexes. However, with his ground-breaking study Tales Out of School (1949), he was also a pioneer of the idea that children's literature should be a serious subject for study and debate. He is best known for writing children's historical novels, whose content reflects his insistence on historically correct backgrounds, which he meticulously researched.

His work has been translated into 20 languages. Geoffrey Trease (AugJanuary 27, 1998), full name Robert Geoffrey Trease, was a prolific writer, publishing 113 books between 1934 ( Bows Against the Barons) and 1997 ( Cloak for a Spy).

Fire on the Wind by Geoffrey Trease