I am an Australian author of Historical fiction. Stories woven through actual historical events
Personal Information
Joined
Oct 4, 2026
Display Name
Christopher Whittaker - Author
Bio
I grew up in Canberra, surrounded by the history and presence of the Australian War Memorial, which helped shape a lifelong interest in military history and the people caught up in it.
I later served in the Australian Army Reserve, an experience that gave me a lasting respect for soldiers as people rather than simply names, ranks and dates in a history book.
As a writer, I am drawn to stories that challenge established narratives. I enjoy looking beyond the accepted version of events and asking what history looked like to the ordinary people who lived through it. My novels explore war, politics, loyalty, courage and the human cost of decisions made by governments, armies and institutions.
I write historical fiction because history is rarely as simple as the version we inherit.
In 1892 The French invaded Dahomey, a small but powerful Kingdom in West Africa.
An experienced battle hardened French army they didn't account for the Agojie , The fierce and tough woman soldiers that formed the backbone of the Dahomean army.
Set approximately 65 years after "The Woman King" the Agojie stand for freedom, for their people and for Dahomey.
If you are familiar with "The Woman King" then Abomey ; Daughters of War is for you.
A historical fiction written around real events.
Angels Sing Thee to Thy Rest: A Legionnaire’s Tale follows Thomas York, an Englishman who leaves behind a life he would rather forget and enlists in the French Foreign Legion in the 1880s.
From the brutal training grounds of North Africa to the long voyage east, Thomas is thrown together with men who have also chosen anonymity over the lives they once knew. Among them are Marcel, an enormous Russian with a hidden past, and Bartoli, a volatile Sardinian whose humour, temper and skill with a knife make him as dangerous to his comrades as he is to the enemy.
Their destination is Tonkin.
France is expanding its influence in northern Vietnam, but the campaign is far from a simple colonial conquest. Chinese forces, Black Flag fighters and local resistance confront the French as armies struggle through flooded rice fields, jungle, fortified towns and river valleys. At Sơn Tây, Bắc Ninh and across the Tonkin countryside, Thomas discovers that courage has little to do with glory and everything to do with the man standing beside you when the shooting starts.
As comrades fall and the Legion strips away what remains of the man he once was, Thomas must decide whether the Legion has given him somewhere to hide—or somewhere finally to belong.
A story of friendship, loss, loyalty and survival amid one of France’s forgotten colonial wars.
Abomey