Firestarter: The Fiery Life and Controversial Death of John Stallon, the Shelford Arsonist is part true-crime mystery, part historical investigation. Set in the early 19th century, it is the tale of a farm worker who gains notoriety for setting multiple fires on farms in a village near to Cambridge. It is also the story of how that village determines to rid itself of a man whose actions are not only disruptive but are a distraction from the drive for ‘progress’.

Was Stallon a revolutionary or a compulsive sociopath? A wronged man or a terrorist? History can’t tell us with certainty which of these labels fits John Stallon best, but each reader can make their own judgment, based on the evidence Firestarter claws back from history’s obscure sources.

Join Fraser Grace, author of Firestarter, as he reads from his book and talks about the joys and challenges of bringing ‘undocumented lives’ from the nineteenth century into print.