Venue: The Ogilivie Room, St Andrew’s Building, School of Education, University of Glasgow

About the book
Dead Reckoning is a literary historical fiction work which forges an intriguing story with a series of true but little known episodes & characters. It weaves the UK’s WWII policy of internment of civilian “enemy aliens,” the destiny of the SS Arandora Star, and the top-secret Operation Colossus into a tale of camaraderie, choices and consequences. The drama is animated by the travails of three couples, who begin as friends: Edgar & Lily struggle to reconcile their pacifism with Edgar’s role in the Government’s treatment of foreign residents and refugees; Fortunato & Florence are caught between their love of Italy and visceral incompatibility with its fascist State, and as the war closes in around them Günther & Ingeborg must consider what to do now that their silence has become complicit in the Nazi regime’s objectives. Who amongst them would be willing to pay the ultimate sacrifice for the sake of the others? And who will remember them for it? Can they remain as friends? It is an eloquent evocation of the pointless vanity of war, highlighting the wartime experiences of Italians and Germans in Britain, many of whom lost their lives when the SS Arandora Star sank whilst transporting them to be detained abroad.

About the author
Born in Scotland, married to an Italian, Lawrence Battersby has lived for twenty-eight years in Paris, France. His prior historical fiction novel The Providential Origins of Maximiliano Rubín was published in 2020 and garnered critical appreciation. His non-fiction writing has been published in 2017 & 2018 in UK, USA, & Australia, as well as translated and published in Italy & Spain by Black Dog & Leventhal; Modern Books; Hardie Grant; Mondadori and Blume respectively. He has written a collection of short stories, poetry and an adaptation (for radio) of Benito Pérez Galdós’ Doña Perfecta.