Raleigh – Tudor Adventurer by Tony Riches

Today I’m delighted to be sharing an excerpt from Tony Riches’ most recent novel, Raleigh – Tudor Adventurer, as part of a blog tour hosted by The Coffee Pot Book Club. This is the third book in The Elizabethan Series. Greenwich Palace, 1584 I’d never seen the presence chamber so crowded. The queen sat on … Continue reading Raleigh – Tudor Adventurer by Tony Riches

Redemption by Philip Yorke

Today I’m delighted to be sharing an excerpt from Philip Yorke’s novel Redemption as part of a blog tour hosted by The Coffee Pot Book Club. Redemption is the second book in Philip's series The Hacker Chronicles, set during the First English Civil. Oliver Cromwell breezes into Stathern at four o'clock in the afternoon, galloping … Continue reading Redemption by Philip Yorke

Traitor’s Knot by Cryssa Bazos

Today I’m delighted to be sharing an excerpt from Cryssa Bazos’s novel Traitor's Knot as part of a blog tour hosted by The Coffee Pot Book Club. Traitor's Knot is the first book in Cryssa's Quest for Three Kingdoms series. Elizabeth Seton couldn’t understand the greed of seagulls. The two birds beat their wings and … Continue reading Traitor’s Knot by Cryssa Bazos

Book Review – The Master of Measham Hall by Anna Abney

The Master of Measham Hall by Anna Abney begins in London in 1665 where Great Plague already is taking hold. It is only five years since the restoration of the monarchy and the divisions that brought about the Civil War still exist beneath a thin veneer of conformity. Althea Hawthorne, a young gentlewoman, has been … Continue reading Book Review – The Master of Measham Hall by Anna Abney

Witchcraft Trials in Early Modern England

A far more succinct version of this post was published by The Coffee Pot Book Club on 9 March 2020. ‘The early-modern European witch-hunts were neither orchestrated massacres nor spontaneous pogroms. Alleged witches were not rounded up at night and summarily killed extra-judicially or lynched as the victims of mob justice. They were executed after trial and … Continue reading Witchcraft Trials in Early Modern England

Book Review – Crimen Exceptum: The English Witch Prosecution in Context by Gregory J Durston

Despite years of cool-headed scholarship over several decades, the idea still persists in the popular imagination that during the period known as the 'witch craze' millions of women were rounded up and burned at the stake often for nothing more than their skill with herbal remedies. While thousands of women, and men, believed to be … Continue reading Book Review – Crimen Exceptum: The English Witch Prosecution in Context by Gregory J Durston

Book Review – Traitor’s Knot by Cryssa Bazos

Traitor’s Knot begins in 1645 with the Battle of Naseby where the New Model Army commanded by Sir Thomas Fairfax and Oliver Cromwell all but destroyed the Royalist army. James Hart, a Royalist captain, despite the hardening influence of three years at war, is shocked to his core when, in his escape from pursuing Roundheads, … Continue reading Book Review – Traitor’s Knot by Cryssa Bazos

Book Review – The Coffin Path by Katherine Clements

From the very first page The Coffin Path gives off a sense of foreboding and building menace. It begins in the Spring 1674, fourteen years into the reign of Charles II, although people and places still bear the scars of the English Civil War. Mercy Booth lives with her father, Bartram Booth, and an aging … Continue reading Book Review – The Coffin Path by Katherine Clements

Book Review – Wintercombe by Pamela Belle

Wintercombe by Pamela Belle follows a year in the life of the St Barbe family, from October 1644 to September 1645, at the height of the First English Civil War. The St Barbes are a Puritan family and hold the estate of Wintercombe near the village of Norton St Philip in Somerset. Two years earlier, … Continue reading Book Review – Wintercombe by Pamela Belle