John Aubin
John Aubin is the pen name under which I write fiction. I have had non-fiction published under my real name of William Foot.
I worked in publishing sales and marketing for twelve years in both South Africa and Britain.
A later career has been in archives and archaeology. I helped manage the Defence of Britain Project for the Council for British Archaeology (1998-2002), and later worked for English Heritage as a freelance consultant for 20th century defence works. Out of this work I wrote (as William Foot) Beaches, Fields, Streets, and Hills: The Anti-Invasion Landscapes of England 1940 (CBA Research Report No.144, 2006); The Battlefields That Nearly Were (Tempus, 2006); and Defended England 1940 (History Press, 2008). Earlier books have been on cartography at the Public Record Office (now The National Archives) and, as a co-author, on agriculture in the Second World War - the latter subject, a strong theme in 'Dissolution 1940').
I live in Sussex and feel most at home in the Wealden countryside where 'Dissolution 1940' starts.
Inspiration to write 'Dissolution 1940' came from reading many years ago Hans Koningsberger's 'A Walk with Love and Death' (1961), a story with the background of warfare in medieval France. I thought I could present a second 'walk with love and death', only set within the imagined scenario of a Nazi invasion of England - a fiction that came within a whisker of actually happening. Many of the scenes set around Sudbury in Suffolk, and elsewhere, are real places, although some names have been fictionalised.
My novel, 'The Face of Boudica', resulted from a lifelong interest in the great revolt against Rome of Queen Boudica in AD60/61. My first efforts at reconstructing these events date to the late 1960s. My views on the site of the final battle have changed over the years. I now think I have now got it just about right!
'SupaPodia' is a futuristic novel, intended as an allegory on the way the world appears to be heading. Since writing it, some aspects of my predictions have become steadily and disturbingly true.
'A Time to Fight', is a reconstruction of the events of April 1747 when the town of Goudhurst in Kent faced up to the threats of the brutal Hawkhurst Gang. Commanded by (General) William Sturt, their hastily-formed militia won an epic victory. The story has affinities with the western 'High Noon', even to the time that the gang said they would come in to burn the town and kill all its inhabitants. The story, I believe, would make a magnificent film.
My latest novel, to be released in September 2024, is 'Of George and Allectus', which tells the story of a young man - George Maple - who takes part in archaeological discoveries at both Blackmoor House (near Selborne in Hampshire) and the Roman town of Silchester. Later, he joins the Rifles and serves in South Africa in the Zulu and lst Boer Wars, where he is badly wounded.. These themes are brought together in an exciting climax. As with 'A Time to Fight', the story is a fictional adaptation of real events.
Another archaeological novel with a dark secret is 'Beneath' that came out in 2025. I consider this the best of all my writing.
'Albanus' is a modern retelling of the story of the martyrdom of St. Alban.
Just released this year is my 'The Pillbox Man', an idea that simmered in my mind during my years of recording pillboxes and other defence structures in the early 2000s for the then English Heritage and the Council for British Archaeology. It should keep you on the edge of your concrete seat!
williamfoot.co.uk/p/welcome.html
