YORK English teacher Tim Murgatroyd’s stunning first novel, Taming Poison Dragons, was a literate and beautifully-written account of the life of a Chinese poet, set in Song Dynasty China in about 1200 AD.

The elderly Lord Yun Cai looked back on his early life in the Imperial city of Linan with regret. His youthful hot-tempered impatience, and his passionate affair with a beautiful singing girl, had led to him being banished – first to the deserts of the far north west, and a war against rebels; and then to a remote estate in China’s western mountains. In old age, he meditates on the mistakes of his youth: until another rebellion threatens everything he holds dear.

It was a novel steeped in poetry, and demonstrating a profound understanding of the way Chinese people of the time thought and behaved. That was all the more remarkable because Tim had never been to China: everything he knew about the country had come from reading classical Chinese poems.

Next week, the Huntington School teacher’s second novel, Breaking Bamboo, is published. Set about 60 years after Taming Poison Dragons, it follows the lives of two of Yun Cai’s grandsons: twins Shi and Guang, one a soldier and the other a humble doctor. China is in turmoil, as Mongol hordes sweep down from the north. Can the Yun family survive imprisonment, treachery and the approach of Kublai Khan’s marauding army?

There’s less poetry this time around, and more battle scenes, admits Tim, 44. But, just as with his previous novel, he’s done plenty of meticulous research. A key part of the novel is based upon the historical siege of Xiangyang – renamed Nancheng in Tim’s book. Xiangyang and its twin city Fancheng were strategically important fortified cities on the Han river, a major tributary of the Yangtze, blocking the Mongols’ way south.

There are a number of battle scenes, Tim admits. “In the course of my research, I learned that they (the Chinese) had fleets of paddle-wheeled battleships on the river.” He also enjoyed finding out more about traditional Chinese medicine. “I used the Yellow Emperor’s Classic Of Internal Medicine”, he says – a classic ancient text which set up the foundations of Chinese medicine.

On top of all this, there is jealousy between the brothers over Shih’s wife and concubine. There’s not just a love triangle, Tim says, but a love quadrangle, featuring the two brothers and the women in their lives.

Breaking Bamboo covers a period of Chinese history which saw one mighty dynasty, the Song, crumble and give way to another, the Mongol Yuan Dynasty. If Taming Poison Dragons is anything to go by, it promises to be a cracker.

Breaking Bamboo by Tim Murgatroyd is published by Myrmidon on Tuesday, priced £16.99 (hardback) or £12.99 (trade softback). Tim will be at Waterstones in York for a special launch event at 6.30pm on Thursday October 28. Entry free.