A best-selling author advised me that an alternative history thriller was always going to be a hard sell. History has a framework of established facts which authors of historical fiction adhere to as closely as practical for the purpose of their plots. However, all historical fiction is alternative history to some extent. Other than facts written down or recorded on film, the author needs to make up most of the rest of the story, in particular the dialogue and internal thoughts of historical characters. Even where we do have extensive knowledge of a particular incident or personality, we only have access to what historians, reporters and diarists chose to put on record, filtered by their own opinions.
From Bond to Bourne the writers of contemporary thrillers commonly use an ‘alternative now’, inventing presidents, terror groups and global crises. To embed the story in reality and help the suspension of disbelief the authors retain recognisable aspects of the modern world from the brands of cars to makes of guns. This has been my approach to the Room Z series, set in a slightly alternative 1930s.
As far as possible I’ve stuck to known facts and included many historical personalities, changing only what is needed to drive the plot. The stroies had to be set within an alternative history because the known facts about the Blackshirts are just too inconvenient to sustain a thriller series. We know where Sir Oswald Mosley was on most dates during the 1930s, we know he never won power and neither was he assassinated nor replaced as leader of the British Union of Fascists. Similar constraints apply to other key personalities of the time, be they Winston Churchill or King Edward VIII. To keep rigidly to history would mean diluting the stakes and not involving key figures in the story at all or creating a foregone conclusion to the plot.
Mosley’s opportunities for victory were few; he was too late to exploit the crisis of 1931 and was discredited by 1939. The British Union of Fascists was only formed in late 1932 and its membership had peaked by mid-1934. Thereafter it was a story of declining support, shrinking funds and fracturing leadership. At the end of 1936 the Public Order Act banned the wearing of uniforms by political organisations and the Blackshirts were no more. The risk of a fascist coup had gone, and the threat posed by the remaining British fascists was reduced to being a potential ‘fifth column’ in the event of war with Germany. Just to be sure, Churchill had the organisation banned and its leaders arrested in the run up to the Battle of Britain.
Fascist rhetoric was scary, its plans grand and its public face intimidating. Fortunately for democracy, resources never matched up to the fantasy and BUF personnel were often lazy, corrupt or incompetent. But suppose reality had matched rhetoric? This is the springboard for Blackshirt Masquerade where the fascists concoct a plan to turn the BUF into the ruthless, efficient organisation its leaders wanted it to be.
Imagine if the BUF had lived up to its opponents’ greatest fears. Throughout the thirties, democratic politicians feared Britain following the path of Italy and Germany. In 1936 came the sobering lesson of the Spanish Civil War and the Abdication Crisis that came later that year led the British government to suspect a fascist coup was on hand. What if this was not just paranoia and Mosley had seized the moment?
As the threat of Nazi Germany grew, officers of MI5 and Special Branch became concerned about what the BUF were up to behind the scenes, and what they could be planning. British intelligence had no idea how much money, support and encouragement was flowing in from Mussolini and Hitler. Hugh Clifton becomes the man recruited by MI5 to infiltrate the Blackshirts and answer these questions.
A fascist takeover of Britain was a frightening prospect, and a Britain under this shadow was a fascinating subject for a thriller writer to tackle. The BUF had a regional command structure, at least 10,000 uniformed Blackshirts, Fascist Police and of course its intelligence unit Department Z. We can see a would-be SS and a Gestapo in the making. Working undercover in such an organisation would have been an edgy experience.
Alternative history raises the stakes and takes us out of our comfort zone. We don’t know the outcome, so everyone and everything is at risk. The reader is in the position of Hugh and Sissy who are oblivious of what will happen in 1939 and how the fascist fantasy would end in catastrophe and horror. Although we can look back on history and feel safe, for the characters the future is unknown.
Blackshirt Masquerade, and Blackshirt Conspiracy and r Blackshirt Rebellion are available worldwide from Amazon, from Barnes and Noble, and can be ordered from your usual book store.