The grisly past of Buckinghamshire has become the newest area of interest for a Wycombe Marsh author.

Bloody British History: Buckinghamshire covers 1,500 years of gory and gruesome events in the county’s hidden history, from women buried alive in Marlow and heretics burned at the stake in Amersham, to the Scrooge of Buckinghamshire, a multimillionaire miser who left his fortune to Queen Victoria after he died, which she used to build Balmoral Castle.

Author Eddie Brazil, who has previously written about ghostly goings-on in Wycombe in Haunted Wycombe, has turned his hand to history with his latest release.

He said: “I’ve always been interested in history and the bloody history of Bucks, the murders, the diseases, it’s just fascinating. You look at Bucks and you think it’s sedate and sleepy, but if you go far enough back into its history, you realise that’s not the case.

“I almost found writing this more interesting than ‘Haunted Wycombe’, because I know a lot about ghosts, but this was really exciting - some of the stories I uncovered when researching this book are incredible.”

The book isn’t just about the county’s most macabre murders, however.

Eddie said: “It’s a history of Bucks and its bloody legacy, but there aren’t just murders; there are also crazy stories, disasters, battles, diseases, absurd and really gruesome stories and just general oddballs.”

Bucks Free Press:

Readers can learn about the legend of the Chalvey Stab Monkey and the surprising link between the village of Penn and the city of Philadelphia in America, to name a few of the astonishing secrets of Buckinghamshire’s past.

Eddie hopes his extraordinary take on the county’s shocking past will inspire people to take an active interest in history.

He said: “I think people tend to enjoy reading about the more gruesome side of life, it’s more fascinating. This book is history for people who wouldn’t normally read history.

“I've written it in a way that’s accessible and you can really get into it. I hope when people read this book, they think ‘wow I didn’t know that’.

“In Gerrards Cross, there’s the largest Iron Age hillfort in the whole of Buckinghamshire and people drive past it every day and they don’t realise its amazing history.”

Fans of Eddie’s previous paranormal books, which has seen him visit the likes of Borley Rectory, allegedly the most haunted house in England, will be pleased to know his newest release features a few ghost stories along the way.

Eddie documents the plight of a teenage girl who was murdered in West Wycombe, who now supposedly haunts The George and Dragon Hotel. He said: “My wife and daughter used to work there and they both testify that they’ve seen and heard strange things in there, like footsteps”.

Eddie admits his dip into history has made him appreciate the surprising secrets the county holds: “It was very illuminating researching this.

“Some things I discovered just made me think, my god, these people are incredible. Bill Bryson said you can’t walk a mile in Britain without finding something fascinating and interesting and its true, especially in Bucks.”

Bloody British History: Buckinghamshire is available from all good bookshops and Amazon from November 4.