Review: Rebellion by Philip Yorke

Synopsis: It is 1643.  The bloody English Civil War has been raging for almost a year and Parliament is facing defeat.  In desperation, it orders army officer, Francis Hacker, to spearhead an audacious plot to bring down the tyrant, King Charles.  Courageous and loyal, Hacker is drawn into a deadly deceit that could cost him everything he holds most dear…

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Historical fiction with grit as the true drama and horrors of the English Civil War are brought to life in the pages of Yorke's book.

During 1642 - 1643, the King and his supporters will still on the political chessboard, pitching battles along the length and breadth of the country against Cromwell's Parliamentarians. Battles were fought and won and lost on both sides, and the futility is well depicted. It is the human loss that is tragically represented- friends and family, once allies, now foes; religious and political beliefs held steadfast by some, and picked up and cast away with indifference by others; and the family drama of loss and grief. Yorke portrays the times in all their grisly glory.

This is the first in a series featuring Parliamentarian soldier Francis Hacker, a man driven by the convictions he upholds - both personal, political and religious. An outstanding historical novel that touches on this divisive period on English history. Looking forward to book two - Redemption.

Note: read in 2020 / reviewed added 2025

Review: Cromwell's Spy by Dennis Sewell

Synopsis: A vivid biography of the elusive George Downing, a Puritan from colonial Massachusetts who became Oliver Cromwell's chief spy and a key figure in the Restoration.Downing Street is synonymous with political power, perhaps only second to Pennsylvania Avenue. But for the builder behind one of the world's most famous streets—George Downing—it was a mere retirement project.

Throughout his storied life, Downing would be a soldier, a politician, a diplomat, and a spy. He came of age as a pioneer in colonial Massachusetts, graduated from Harvard, crossed the Atlantic to sign up for the English Civil War and fast became Oliver Cromwell’s chief of military intelligence. He was one of a close group of now-forgotten Americans in Cromwell’s circle who exerted enormous influence upon English political life during their Civil War.

Throughout his life, Downing was always at the center of events, engaging with the most illustrious men and women of his times. His uncle was the governor of Massachusetts; his cousin the governor of Connecticut. In England, his patrons were Oliver Cromwell and King Charles II. The famous diarist, Samuel Pepys, was his clerk; the great poet, John Milton, prepared his letters and dispatches. William of Orange was godfather to his son; his next-door neighbor was Queen Elizabeth of Bohemia; and when Downing finally built his street, his surveyor was Sir Christopher Wren, architect of St Paul’s Cathedral.

He would leave his mark on American soil as well. He played a key role in the founding of New York by helping to wrest Manhattan and Long Island from the Dutch. Yet he remains one of the most elusive figures of his age. In Dennis Sewell's rich and vivid Cromwell's Spymaster, Downing emerges as the extraordinary, enigmatic, and endlessly fascinating anti-hero of his own life story.

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After finishing this biography by Dennis Sewell, I still felt as if Downing was as elusive as ever, and I fear much of his "intelligence" work has gone and will continue to go undiscovered. It is his reputation - as a spy, a diplomat, a turncoat, a raconteur, an double agent - that has  foreshadowed all else.  But I feel that I have learned more about this man than I previously had, and have come to an understanding of his character and career.

George Downing was a man who was socially and politically connected to people - on both sides of the Atlantic - who mattered. He was politically active, initially as a preacher, before learning the art of deception and ambiguity from Oliver Cromwell himself. Downing was no fool - he was adroit, astute, with his own network of spies and agents, and was often referred to as both "an intelligencer and seducer" (c.1650).

His early political career was in Scotland however he took no part in the trial or execution of King Charles I of England, despite being on Cromwell's staff. He became increasingly concerned with foreign affairs and national security, finding himself as Ambassador in the Netherlands, where he was said to be "... burgling, bribing and blackmailing his way across the Low Countries..." which were a hot-bed of Royalist activity and home to a number of significant members of the royal house of Stuart.

His reputation was far from clean - he was an active participant in the trafficking of war prisoners to the Americas and nor was he above a little appropriation of the property of Royalists for himself. In the political vacuum that followed the death of Cromwell, Downing used his connections to intercede with the new King, Charles II. He was forgiven his misdemeanors, rewarded and even took on the role of hunter of the regicides.

Downing did well for himself in the US colonies - mercantilism became his new religion; and whilst he may have lost royal support due to abandoning his post during war, he was an active (and wealthy) parliamentarian.

As mentioned, it would be Downing's reputation - as a morally heinous, hypocritical scoundrel and turncoat - that would outlive his achievements. However, it should be remembered that Downing really was no better nor worse than his contemporaries and his actions should be judged only in light of the events and mores of his time - not ours!

Having finding myself reading more about the Interregnum under Cromwell and the hunt for the regicides of Charles I, this biography by Sewell landed at a most appropriate time. 

I would highly recommend indulging in this biography of an elusive and contradictory character, which does much to restore some of the dignity and acknowledge the sheer strength of political survivalism of this intriguing man.

Review: Killing Beauties by Pete Langman

Synopsis: England, 1655. Following the brutal civil wars the country swelters under a cloud of paranoia, suspicion and the burgeoning threat of rebellion. With the fragile peace being won by Cromwell’s ever-efficient Secretary of State John Thurloe, the exiled king Charles Stuart sends two spies on a dangerous mission to wrest back the initiative. These spies are different, however: they are women. Their task? To turn Parliament’s spymaster into their unwitting  accomplice.  Killing Beauties is a dark tale of subterfuge, jealousy and betrayal.

Some Background:

The setting for this historical novel is England, 1655. It is the time of what was known as "the Protectorate" when England was governed not by the monarchy, but by Parliament under Oliver Cromwell (r. 1653 - 1658) and then his son Richard, (r. 1658 - 1659). King Charles I had been executed in 1649 at the culmination of the civil war that had raged throughout England, Scotland and Ireland since 1642; and his son and successor, Charles II, was languishing in The Hague (the Netherlands). With him in exile were many nobles and political heavyweights, including one Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon.

Whilst in exile, Charles and his councillors were in constant contact with supporters in England. The use of spies, letter locking, concealed messages, secret signals was on constant use by both parties. Many spies were exposed, imprisoned, tortured and often executed.  Most spies were men.

Espionage in 17th Century England:

The rise of espionage or spying services could be traced to the Catholic and Protestant conflicts of the 16th and 17th centuries in Europe. In England, there was both a fear of a Catholic invasion and attempt to take the English throne as well as a desire to shape events in Europe, particularly in the Netherlands. Under the reign of Elizabeth I (1558-1603), one of the first official spymasters in English history arose in the figure of Francis Walsingham, who was also the Secretary of State for Elizabeth I. Another key person was William Cecil.

After the English Civil war in the 1650s, Oliver Cromwell realized there needed to be greater control of the postal service, which became the primary way in which many plots were orchestrated. Thus, the Post Office, under John Thurloe, increased letter surveillance to help uncover plots against Cromwell. This development by Thurloe also included the earliest known usage of mathematicians as dedicated, state-sponsored code breakers, where Thurloe employed mathematicians from Oxford, such as John Wallis, to decipher conspiracies.

While the state increased its efforts in trying to infiltrate various groups, including Catholics and potential conspirators, the state attempted to mislead in some news so as to help disrupt potential threats and ability to organize for hostile groups - this was a form of "fake news" - instigated by the state to control the flow of information. The press, at times, could be used as a coded messaging system to conspirators. Writer and poet John Dryden later noted: “Plots, true or false, are necessary things, To raise up commonwealths, and ruin kings”.

One of the most common the methods used was letters.  These innocuous pieces of correspondence could be filled with ciphers or codes that were written invisible ink.  The ones delivered through official postal channels contained either false or largely superficial information.

Women were able to gather information unnoticed because they were not believed to be politically active. In fact, playwrights, nurses, ladies-in-waiting, nuns, postmistresses, and women in other professions and positions operated as spies during this period. This means that they secretly obtained information from the enemy either out of political or religious convictions, or to obtain money or power. Their secret communications were couched in innocent domestic terms, but were encoded with references to high politics and dangerous enterprises. Unlike men, these women were not restricted by codes of chivalry and honour. Sometimes they worked alone, but there is substantial evidence to suggest involvement in secret spy networks.  While male spies would be hanged if caught, female spies would be punished with a short stay in the Tower of London.

The Sealed Knot:

The Sealed Knot was a secret organisation dedicated to the restoration of the Monarchy. The group was commissioned by King Charles II between November 1653 and February 1654 from his exile in Paris for the purpose of coordinating underground Royalist activity in England and preparing for a general uprising against the Protectorate. Strangely enough, Edward Hyde was not one of the original founding members.

The Sealed Knot made ten attempts between 1652 and 1659 to bring about the Restoration. Major uprisings were ultimately ineffective, partly because of an abundance of caution, but not least due to the treachery of Sir Richard Willis (a double agent), who was feeding information to Cromwell's spymaster John Thurloe from at least 1656, for reasons which remain unknown. In 1659 Willis was denounced to the future King Charles II by Thurloe’s secretary, Samuel Morland, who accused him of plotting, with Thurloe and Cromwell, to lure Charles and his brothers to return to England under false pretences (to meet followers in Sussex) and then assassinate them (see: The Life of John Thurloe, Esq).

Dramatis Personae:

Susan Hyde: Was the sister of Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon.  She worked for the Sealed Knot, the Royalist secret society determined to put the Stuarts back on the throne. She went by the name of Mrs Edwards, and sometimes Mistress St Barbe, Mistress Simburbe or Mr Gotherintone. When the Royalists lost the war, they did not give up the fight. Hyde's sister ran the London end of operations, communicating with the Stuart court in exile via an apothecary-clearing house in the Old Bailey.

In September 1656 a London apothecary, Anthony Hinton, was arrested on suspicion of using his premises beside the Old Bailey as a clearing house for letters on their way to exiled Royalists on the Continent. Interrogated by Cromwell’s own intelligence officers, Hinton quickly confessed his guilt and gave up the names of a number of spies with ties to the Sealed Knot, one of the Royalist secret societies operating in England during the Commonwealth. His list included Susan Hyde, the sister of Sir Edward Hyde, one of Charles II’s closest advisers. Hinton claimed that she had been sending useful information to fellow Royalists for more than four years, using a variety of ciphers and codenames.

Hinton’s claims were true. Hyde’s last letter, written in September 1656, warned Charles II that there was a leak in the network. She suspected that a double agent was at work. So there was: Sir Robert Honywood, master of the household to Charles II’s aunt Elizabeth of Bohemia, was spying for Cromwell. But it was Hinton’s evidence that was Hyde’s undoing. Some weeks after his confession (see: the State Papers of John Thurloe by John Thurloe),  three officers arrived at the house in Wiltshire where she was staying. despite her status as a gentlewoman, they ransacked her chamber, searched her for incriminating papers and carted her off to be examined in London, where she was so frightened by her interrogators that she had a mental breakdown. She died in prison at Lambeth a few days later and was soon forgotten. Even her brother, the great chronicler of the Civil Wars, made no mention in his writings of her contribution to the war effort. Broken and overlooked, she disappeared from history. Her brother Edward, the royalist exile and historian of the Great Rebellion, made no mention of her in his History or Memoirs.

John Thurloe: was a secretary to the council of state in Protectorate England and spymaster for Oliver Cromwell. Upon Oliver Cromwell's assuming the protectorship in December 1653 Thurloe became Secretary of State under him. In February 1654 he was made one of the masters of the upper bench of the society of Lincoln's–inn. In August 1655. he "had the care and charge of the postage, both foreign and inland, committed to him by the protector", Cromwell. 

Thurloe was efficient and thorough in carrying out his duties. He was able to keep Cromwell fully informed of the plans of foreign governments through his system of "intelligencers" and agents, and through detailed correspondence with ambassadors abroad. Among those in his employ were the Dutch diplomat and historian Lieuwe van Aitzema, the mathematician John Wallis, who established a code-breaking department, and diplomat and mathematician Samuel Morland, who served as Thurloe's assistant. 

Always apparently one step ahead of his enemies, Thurloe established a formidable reputation as a spymaster, particularly after his agents  (including Henry Manning, who would later be unmasked and executed) infiltrated Charles II's court in exile and he secured the services of the Royalist Sir Richard Willys as an informant. Thurloe's service broke the Sealed Knot, a secret society of Royalists and uncovered various other plots against the Protectorate. (see also: Codes & Cyphers of Thuloe's Agents).

Diana Jennings: was a shadier character, described as a coney-catcher (thief or con-woman).  I could find nothing on this elusive woman or her activities as an agent for the Sealed Knot, which is not surprising since much of the work of these women went undocumented.

My Review:

I really enjoyed this.  Whilst predominately a work of fiction, there is a strong sense of in-depth research that has gone into the story, which only makes the reader want to discover more (which I did).

The two main characters of Susan and Diana were polar opposites.  Susan is complex, serious and dedicated to the task ahead, even though she knows it could very well end in her death. Whilst Diana on the other hand, seems reckless, adventurous, daring, and willing to take a gamble and gain a reputation in the meantime.  I was pleased to see a mention of Jane Whorwood, an intelligencer for Charles I. The character of Molly did not really do much for me as I felt she was just a page filler whilst Diana was "off screen" so to speak.

I loved the use of actual historical details in the espionage component - letter locking, invisible ink, codes and cyphers, and the use of disguises and some questionable cross-dressing on the part of Diana.  The creation of a "Sisterhood" that was the sole domain of the female intelligencers was done quite well - I am sure that there were some in existance which those in key roles (like Diana and Susan) communicating with various other groups (ie: the Sealed Knot).

However, it was the character of John Thurloe that intrigued me the most to the point that it was with him that my empathy sat - he comes across as vulnerable, tortured, even somewhat likeable, an anti-hero if you will.  Thurloe is deserving of his own novel I think.

All in all, this was for me a good read and I happily went off discovering more.

further reading:

Royalist Agents, Conspirators and Spies: Their Role in the British Civil Wars, 1640-1660 by Geoffrey Smith

Invisible Agents: Women and Espionage in Seventeenth-Century Britain by Nadine Akkerman

Royalist Conspiracy in England 1649-60 by David Underdown

Cromwell's master spy; a study of John Thurloe. by Daisy Lucie Hobman

see also: Letter Locking Dictionary

Amberley Publishing - Interest History Titles

Amberley Publishing have some history titles out that have caught my eye - thought I would share:

La Reine Blanche by Sarah Bryson

This is the story of Mary Tudor, told through her own words via primary sources, state papers and letters, for the first time.

The Anarchy: the Darkest Days of Medieval England by Teresa Cole

The Anarchy blends contemporary, sometimes eyewitness accounts with modern analysis to describe a period of England’s history so dark and lawless that those who lived through it declared that ‘Christ and his saints slept.'

Edward the Elder: King of the Anglo-Saxons by Michael John Key

Edward the Elder succeeded his father Alfred the Great to the kingdom of Wessex ... and deserved to be recognised for his contribution to Anglo-Saxon history and a new assessment of his reign is overdue. He proved equal to the task of cementing and extending the advances made by his father, and paved the way for the eventual unification of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms and the nation-state of England. The course of English medieval history after his death was a direct outcome of military successes during his reign.

Plantagenet Queens & Consorts: Family, Duty & Power by Dr Steven J. Corvi

Examination of the lives and influence of ten figures, comparing their different approaches to the maintenance of political power in what is always described as a man’s world. On the contrary, there is strong evidence to suggest that these women had more political impact than those who came later – with the exception of Elizabeth I – right up to the present day. Beginning with Eleanor of Provence, loyal spouse of Henry III, the author follows the thread of queenship: Philippa of Hainault, Joan of Navarre, Katherine Valois, Elizabeth Woodville, and others, to Henry VII’s Elizabeth of York. 

The House of Grey: Friends & Foes of Kings by Melita Thomas

The Grey family was one of medieval England’s most important dynasties, serving the kings of England as sheriffs, barons and military leaders from the reign of William the Conqueror. Family came to prominence in the period known as the Wars of the Roses and under the Tudor Monarchs.

Lovell Our Dogge: The Life of Viscount Lovell by Michèle Schindler

Francis Lovell was not only an ally of Richard III but his closest friend, and one of the wealthiest barons in England. Author Michèle Schindler returns to primary sources to reveal the man who was not only a boyhood friend of the king-to-be as a ward of Edward IV, but also linked to him by marriage: his wife, Anne FitzHugh, was first cousin to Richard’s wife, Anne Neville.

Ranulf de Blondeville: The First English Hero Iain Soden

The study of a nobleman whose exploits became the stuff of medieval romance, once recounted in the same breath as Robin Hood. Ranulf de Blondeville was fabulously rich and powerful. He served six kings, endured difficult regime-change, fought his way across half of France and back and more than once turned wrested victory from defeat. He never forgot that his roots were Norman although his efforts were for England, where he made his home.

Lawson Lies Still in the Thames: The Extraordinary Life of Vice-Admiral John Lawson by Gill Blanchard

This biography charts the tumultuous life and times of an ordinary seaman born in Scarborough who would come to play a major role in the English Civil War, the Restoration, the Anglo-Dutch Wars and the start of the transformation of England into a global political and economic power in the seventeenth century.

Review: The Judge Hunter by Christopher Buckley

In this latest comic novel from Christopher Buckley, a hapless Englishman embarks on a dangerous mission to the New World in pursuit of two judges who helped murder a king.

London, 1664. Twenty years after the fateful events that saw an English monarch dethroned and executed, the monarchy has been restored as the "merry monarch"  Charles II now sits on the throne. The men who conspired to kill his father, Charles I, are either dead or have fled England. In fact, Ezra Stiles in his "A History of Three of the Judges of King Charles I" notes that of the fifty-nine judges who signed the warrant, twenty-four were dead by 1660; twenty-seven were tried and condemned, of which nine were executed; whilst fifteen fled, their whereabouts largely unknown. Except for three - Whalley, Goff, Dixwell - who all fled to the New World and "found friendly asylum and concealment in Massachusetts and Connecticut." Revenge, however, is never far from the new King's mind.

Baltasar “Balty” St. Michel is the son of a french aristocrat, Alexandre le Marchant de St Michel, who had at one time served briefly as a gentleman carver in the household of Henrietta Maria, Charles I’s queen, and one, Dorothea, daughter of a Hampshire country gentleman. The family fell on hard times and Pepys, who by contrast was on his way up in the world, would find himself with an alarming number of poor relations on his wife Elizabeth’s side, particularly her favourite brother Balty! 

At the time of our story, Balty is twenty-four; has no skills and no employment, and is receiving handouts from his brother-in-law Samuel Pepys, an officer in the king’s navy. Fed up with his sponging in-law, Pepys offers Balty a job "... the one I have in mind has a genuine talent for annoyance ..." Balty is commissioned to go to the New World to track down two of the missing missing judges (Edward Whalley and William Goff) who were responsible for the execution of the last king, Charles I.

When Balty arrives in the New World, he discovers that Boston is governed by emigrant Puritans from England, in conflict with both emerging dissident factions (the Quakers) and the displaced tribes. As the fledgling colony began to thrive, it was harder to maintain the purity imposed at the outset, and all manner of rogue and fortune hunter made his appearance.

Balty traverses colonial America in search of the missing judges, all the while assisted by a Daniel Boone type agent for the English, one Colonel Hiram Huncks, a man with not only a past but with his own secret second commission.  Meanwhile, Samuel Pepys, in his role as Surveyor-General of the Victualling Office, is preparing for a war with the Dutch, which he fears England has no chance of winning - before finding himself not only in hot water but in the Tower!

17thC Gentleman

The real life Balty is a fitting subject for a spy - elusive, casual, Marlowesque even. Pepys seems to have done well for his brother-in-law in later life, although, from the entries in the Diary, he does not appear to have had a high opinion of him. St. Michel was Muster Master at Deal in 1674, Storekeeper at Tangier in 1681, and Naval Commissioner at Deptford in 1685 (where Marlowe met his end nearly 90 years before).

This reads at a cracking pace - the action never slackens, the humour is witty and at times slightly comediac, whilst the whole tale is interspersed with extracts from Pepys' diary to add to the authenticity of the historical backdrop. 

I loved the historical notes at the end which shows this this was brilliantly researched for a fictional account of adventure and political intrigue in 17th Century England, and of the story of the Dutch and English in the New Colonies. It is about time that some of these "lesser" historical characters take centre stage.

Further Reading:

Traitor's Arms by James Long

Killers of the King: The Men Who Dared to Execute Charles I by Charles Spencer

The Diary of Samuel Pepys

Diary of Samuel Pepys

List of Regicides of Charles I

Protestant Exiles From France

More Reviews here:  

@ Kirkus Reviews

@ Washington Independent Review of Books

@ National Review

Redemption by Andrew Murrison

Synopsis: January 1649

The people of London are gathering around the scaffold to witness the execution of King Charles I. The English Civil War between Roundhead and Cavalier – followers of Parliament or King – appears to have reached its bloody climax.

But who’s the executioner sweating beneath his heavy disguise? The clerk scribbling the King’s last words is in no doubt. He scratches the name that has eluded historians since and calculates the money he can make from it.

Six years earlier, a heated disagreement between west-country yeoman Nathaniel Salt and his neighbour, the wealthy merchant Erasmus Carew, turns into a dangerous vendetta when Nat’s house is torched by Carew’s thugs and his children burned alive.

Carew supports the King and his cause. Nat meanwhile joins the Parliamentarians, vowing to avenge his dead children and he rises up within the ranks of Oliver Cromwell’s side against the King, and against Carew.

Marriage to his childhood sweetheart, the Squire’s daughter Euphemia – Effam - Farrington, brings Nat land, status and a new name. He becomes Captain Nathaniel Farrington and succeeds the Squire as Member of Parliament for Hinton. 

An incompetent midwife dashes the couple’s hopes of children but adopting the product of an earlier liaison gives them their son and heir. The child is named after his godfather Oliver Cromwell.

Nat’s rise is facilitated by one Foxwood, a political fixer and spin-doctor. The Westminster insider’s diary of secrets contains plenty of material to feed the news books of London and for blackmail.

As King Charles’ vengeful son is restored to his father’s throne, Foxwood prepares his final deception. With Nat taking ship for Massachusetts, the identity of the King’s executioner is finally revealed, and his true relationship with Erasmus Carew…

Review: Wayland's Revenge by Lesley Lodge

Set in the time of the English Civil War, a man, a soldier in the Parliamentary forces, returns home to find his son a mute and his wife dead, killed as a witch. As he attempts to put his life back together and find out what lead to such tragic events, an old comrade arrives in search of a missing lad.

As the two men (and the mute son) set out, they get caught up with the imprisoned King's army at Bantry and the siege of Colchester (1648), where aAmid the besieging army lurks pure evil in human form.

The novel, whilst not overly long, manages to depict the savagery of civil war and the consequences for non-combatants. The events did actually take place, the massacre of women after the battle of Naseby did occur though the reasons still remain a mystery, Sir Thomas Fairfax was in charge of the Parliamentarians, and only after defeat at Preston did the Royalists surrender - the terms were real. The Sealed Knot was a secret society dedicated to the restoration of the Monarchy (active after the death of Charles I in 1649) and they made eight attempts to bring about the restoration of Charles II (1652 - 1659), though the group was ultimately betrayed by Sir Richard Willis to John Thurloe.

This is definitely well researched - the violence of the times depicted within these pages will not be to everyone's liking - but this is based on true events - so take it, warts and all. I have been reading a bit more from this period in history, and have added a few tomes to my library - this will be another one.