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Helena P.
Schrader's novels reflect her extensive travels, her experiences in
many nations and cultures, and her solid background in
history. To these she adds a remarkable talent for
envisioning interesting characters and bringing them to life.
Readers of her novels on ancient Sparta, medieval Europe, and
Europe and America during World War II find themselves transported
to a historical place and time that is vivid and accurate, seeing
it through the eyes of her characters and experiencing it through
their adventures. And like all good novels, her stories raise
basic life questions (concerning love, death, honour, and
spirituality) that transcend any one place or time. The daughter of an American professor of economics, Helena travelled extensively as a child and as a student, living and attending school in Japan, Brazil, England, and Nigeria. She holds degrees in History and in Diplomacy and International Commerce, including a Ph.D. from the University of Hamburg for her studies on the German Resistance during World War II. As an adult she lived for many years in Europe, working in government organizations and in the private sector. She is commissioned in the U.S. Foreign Service and currently resides with her husband in Lagos, Nigeria. Her hobbies include horseback riding, sailing, and (most recently) learning to fly. This site provides summaries and excerpts from Helena Schrader's published and in progress, fiction and non-fiction works. While exploring the site you will also find interesting articles and/or galleries addressing in more depth her favourite writing themes: ancient Sparta; medieval Europe and the Knights Templar; and Europe and America during WWII with a special emphasis on female pilots. Be sure to read all about her newest award winning published works, An Obsolete Honor, Chasing the Wind, Blockade Breakers and Spartan Slave, Spartan Queen: A Tale of Four Women in Sparta. Helena looks forward to your comments about her books and the subjects she writes about via her guest book. NOTE: Helena is American, but her book publishers are German and British; therefore, this site uses British spelling and grammar. |
| An
Obsolete
Honor: A Story of the German Resistance to Hitler Fiction, published 2008 This work of historical fiction recounts the story of the German resistance to Nazism in WWII and of the Valkyrie Plot to assassinate Adolph Hitler. This novel traces the gradual transformation of a loyal - albeit critical - German General Staff Officer into a traitor and assassin candidate. Secondary characters in the novel reflect the great diversity of feelings toward National Socialism from idealistic enthusiasm to self-interested support, cautious approval and humanitarian opposition. |
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| Blockade
Breakers Non-fiction, published 2008 When the post-war Soviet military government in Germany abruptly put the Western Sectors of Berlin under siege (the Berlin Blockade), nearly two million German civilians found themselves cut off from supplies of food, fuel, electricity and other basic necessities. The American and British occupation forces had the choice of abandoning these Germans, struggling to create a democratic government after years of Nazi dictatorship, or find a way to supply them with all they needed. Since use of force meant war with the Soviets, the Western Allies took a dramatic and unprecedented decision to supply the city by air. The result was the Berlin Airlift, the largest and most successful airlift the world has ever known. |
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| Chasing
the
Wind Fiction, published 2007
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The Lady in the
Spitfire
Fiction, published 2006 A mid-air near collision between a damaged Flying Fortress and an RAF bomber is the catalyst which brings Lt. Jay Baronowsky and Emily Priestman, a pilot of the Air Transport Auxiliary, together. The encounter is the start of a war-time romance shadowed by the intangible presence of Emily's missing husband (the RAF pilot in Chasing the Wind). |
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| Sisters
in
Arms Non-fiction, published 2006 During World War II, women pilots in the US and the UK flew military aircraft in support capacities. The women pilots in the UK, who flew with the ATA, enjoyed the privileges and status of their male colleagues. Their counter parts in the US, The WASPs, were denied equality of opportunity and status and sent home before their job was done. This book explains why.  |
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| General
Friedrich
Olbricht: Ein Mann des 20. Julis Non-fiction biography (in German), published 1993/1994 (two editions) Olbricht was a leading member of the German Resistance to Hitler. This biography of him, based on a wealth of previously inaccessible documents from the former East Germany and hundreds of interviews with survivors of the war, demonstrates the central role Olbricht played in the July 20th Plot and revises many previous assumptions about Resistance within Germany in WWII. |
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| Codename
Valkyrie Non fiction biography (in English), anticipated release: June 2009 General Friedrich Olbricht was a leading member of the German Resistance to Hitler and the originator of Plan Valkyrie. This is his story, the first biography of him in the English language. It is based on documents from the former East Germany and hundreds of interviews with survivors of the war. It demonstrates Olbricht's central role in the July 20th Plot and refutes the claims (originating with Hitler himself) that only a small number of conspirators were involved and that Graf Stauffenberg was the sole important participant. |
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I 
Also visit:
RAF
WWII Photo Gallery Luftwaffe - Helferninnen Women
Auxiliary Photo Gallery WWll Women Pilots: ATA and WASP
Photo Gallery
Helena's WWII Symbol Gallery
for
images on this subject. Further
Reading page for WWII and Women
Aviators study.
Read
the short essay: "The Battle of Britain
in Historical Perspective" by Helena Schrader.
Read
the article: "Women in
Military
Aviation in World War Two" by Helena Schrader.
Read
the article: "Winged
Auxiliaries : Women
Pilots in the UK and US during World War Two" by Dr. Helena
P.
Schrader.Reprinted from the "THE JOURNAL OF NAVIGATION", 2006
Helena's Website: The
Valkyrie Conspiracy for in depth articles about the military
German Resistance against the Nazi regime.
 |
The
Olympic
Charioteer
Fiction, published 2005 This is the story of a slave and a charioteer in Archaic Greece. Based on ancient sources but using predominantly fictional characters, The Olympic Charioteer describes the events that led to the establishment of the first "non-aggression pact" in recorded history. |
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Are
They
Singing
in Sparta? Fiction, published 2006 The revolutionary unrest which caused Ancient Sparta to adopt the first democratic constitution in the ancient world, and the bitter war which followed, are the setting of this novel. These historical events, the seeds of all subsequent Spartan development, are presented through the eyes of an Athenian poet, a Spartan commander and a young widow.  |
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Spartan
Slave, Spartan Queen: Tale of Four Women of Sparta
Fiction, published 2007 Two women in Sparta
are captured into slavery at the same time: the beautiful daughter of
the Arcadian
King, Niobe, and her ugly, "barbarian" hand-maiden, Mika.
While Niobe becomes the concubine of one of Sparta's princes, Mika
is an ordinary slave in the house of an ordinary citizen's
wife. The novel explores the impact and effect of beauty on
four women's lives in an ancient context. This book is a
sequel to Are They Singing in Sparta?
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A
Dispensable
King
Fiction, in progress This will be a
biographical novel
of
Leonidas of Sparta and his wife Gorgo, daughter of King
Cleomenes. Leonidas led the united Greek forces that met the
invading Persian Army at the Pass of Thermopylae in 480 BC.
Leonidas was a younger son in a bitterly divided family. His wife
was the most frequently quoted woman of her age. He ruled only ten
years, but he played an instrumental role in forging the alliance
that was to defy the Persians and force even the traditionally
conservative Spartan government to commit forces "north of the
Isthmus".
|
Also visit:
Helena's
web
site on Sparta for articles and further suggested reading.
Ancient
Sparta
Gallery for images on this subject.
|
The
Cypriot
Knight
Fiction, published 1996 |
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Sir
Jean of
Acre
Fiction, published 1997 |
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The
English
Templar
Fiction, published 1999 Republished March 2007 |
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Lion
of
Karpas
Fiction, finished unpublished - proposed release: 2010 |
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The
Black
Prince
Fiction, in progress A fictionalized biography about Edward of Woodstock, the eldest child of King Edward III, who was born in 1330. He "won his spurs" at the Battle of Crécy, fighting in the front line when just 16 years of age. In 1356, against a vastly superior French army, he won the battle of Poitiers, taking the French King captive. He surprised the world, and probably his own father, by marrying his widowed and divorced cousin, Joan, the "Fair Maid of Kent." Despite his failing health he was the power behind the scenes which enabled "the Good Parliament" of 1376 to pass measures designed to strengthen the government against despotism. |
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Also visit:
Helena's Medieval/Knights
Templar Gallery for information on symbols of the era.
Further Reading
page for Medieval and Knights Templar study.ANCIENT SPARTA I MEDIEVAL/KNIGHTS TEMPLAR I WWII & AFTERMATH
ORDER I E-MAIL I GUEST BOOK
ERRATA I LINKS I AWARDS I RINGS I HOME
