Yet when she was asked what she had to say for herself, her chief plea was that she had led a most virtuous and holy life.” —Reverend Cotton Mather, 1692 USA Today Bestselling author Heather B. Moore brings the life of her 10th great-grandmother to center stage. Susannah North Martin, accused of witchcraft in 1692, joins five women in the Salem Jail, all sentenced to death for their crimes. Amidst tragedy, Susannah finds hope and compassion as she remembers a well-loved life, and readers discover that love reaches far beyond the grave as Susannah faces the magistrates in Salem.

    When his eldest son, Charles, returned in 1651 to fight for his throne, he was crushed by the might of Cromwell’s armies at the battle of Worcester.With 3,000 of his supporters lying dead and 10,000 taken prisoner, it seemed as if his dreams of power had been dashed. Surely it was a foregone conclusion that he would now be caught and follow his father to the block? At six foot two inches tall, the prince towered over his contemporaries and with dark skin inherited from his French-Italian mother, he stood out in a crowd. How would he fare on the run with Cromwell’s soldiers on his tail and a vast price on his head?The next six weeks would form the most memorable and dramatic of Charles’ life. Pursued relentlessly, Charles ran using disguise, deception and relying on grit, fortitude and good luck. He suffered grievously through weeks when his cause seemed hopeless. He hid in an oak tree – an event so fabled that over 400 English pubs are named Royal Oak in commemoration. Less well-known events include his witnessing a village in wild celebrations at the erroneous news of his killing; the ordeal of a medical student wrongly imprisoned because of his similarity in looks; he disguised himself as a servant and as one half of an eloping couple. Once restored to the throne as Charles II, he told the tale of his escapades to Samuel Pepys, who transcribed it all.In this gripping, action-packed, true adventure story, based on extensive archive material, Charles Spencer, bestselling author of Killers of the King, uses Pepys’s account and many others to retell this epic adventure.

    . . Royalist officer James Hart refuses to accept the tyranny of the new government after the execution of King Charles I, and to raise funds for the restoration of the king’s son, he takes to the road as a highwayman. Elizabeth Seton has long been shunned for being a traitor’s daughter. In the midst of the new order, she risks her life by sheltering fugitives from Parliament in a garrison town. But her attempts to rebuild her life are threatened, first by her own sense of injustice, then by falling in love with an outlaw. The lovers’ loyalty is tested through war, defeat and separation. James must fight his way back to the woman he loves, while Elizabeth will do anything to save him, even if it means sacrificing herself. Trigger Warnings: Violence, animal injury/death.

    Ignored by his mother, scorned by contemporaries, seemingly at war with the world in which he lived, Newton turned his energies to things unseen. His laws of motion and law of universal gravitation would set the stage for a most extraordinary life. Inside you will read about... ✓ The English Civil War ✓ Newton and the Apple ✓ Newton's Work in Mathematics & Optics ✓ Middle Years in Scientific Experiments ✓ Principia ✓ Newton and Alchemy ✓ Later Life and Death And much more! Follow along as you travel from a rugged stone farmhouse to Trinity College, Cambridge to the halls of London exhibitions where Newton found himself the celebrity of the age. Looking back on Aristotle, and inspired by all that Galileo had brought the world, Newton made his life work much of what is heralded as the modern age. He saw what no one else did, and his vision saw into the universe. See how he did it, and why.

    In the centuries since America began, the Pilgrims have been relegated to folklore and children’s stories, fairy-tale mascots for holiday parties and greeting cards.The true story of the Pilgrim Fathers could not be more different. Beginning with the execution of two pastors deviating from the Elizabethan Church of England, the Pilgrims’ great journey was one of courageous faith, daring escape, and tenuous survival. Theirs is the story of refugees who fled intense religious persecution; of dreamers who voyaged the Atlantic and into the unknown when all other attempts had led to near-certain death; of survivors who struggled with newfound freedom. Loneliness led to starvation, tension gave way to war with natives, and suspicion broke the back of the very freedom they endeavored to achieve.Despite the pain and turmoil of this high stakes triumph, the Pilgrim Fathers built the cornerstone for a nation dedicated to faith, freedom, and thankfulness. This is the epic story of the Pilgrims, an adventure that laid the bedrock for the Founding Fathers, the Constitution, and the American identity.

    Deb Willet is desperate to escape her domineering aunt and takes a position as companion to Elisabeth Pepys, Samuel's wife. Deb believes it will give her the respectability and freedom she craves - but it proves far more complicated than she could ever have imagined.London is still in ruins from the Great Fire. Although Charles II has been restored to the throne, there is the prospect of war with the Dutch - the world's great sea power of the era. In the midst of this tumult strides Samuel Pepys, diarist and man of note.Pepys' influence in Restoration London means that the Dutch are keen to get their hands on his secrets - even if that means murder, espionage and blackmail to get them. Deb is soon caught up in a web of deception and double-dealing. And with Mr Pepys' attentions turned towards her, there's a lot more than treason at stake...Selling other people's secrets is a dangerous game

    From childhood, she and her mother have used herbs to cure the sick. But Jane will soon learn that her sheltered life in a small village is not safe from the troubles of the wider world.From his father’s beatings to his uncle’s raging sermons, John Sharpe is beset by bad fortune. Fighting through personal tragedy, he finds his purpose: to become a witch-finder and save innocents from the scourge of witchcraft. Inspired by true events, Widdershins tells the story of the women who were persecuted and the men who condemned them.

    He gives David the nod of approval to range up and down the French Canadian shores, burning colonies and pillaging ships that are loaded with goods meant for the French. When Louis XIII of France shouts his outrage, King Charles reneges. He takes David’s prizes and returns them to the French, putting David and his family in dire straits.Undeterred, David and Sara will not be denied. After years, the king relents. He knights David and gives him a grant for the whole of Newfoundland and Labrador. There David and Sara build a prosperous plantation. They trade fish and fish oil with colonies down the American coast, Barbados and ports of call in the Mediterranean. They thrive while England is torn in two by the civil wars.Soon, these troubles engulf his family. David is carried in chains back to England to stand trial for being a malignant, a follower of Laud's high church. He entreats Sara to manage the Ferryland plantation, a daunting task but with a strength that defies a stalwart man, she digs in and prospers, becoming the first entrepreneur of Newfoundland.Reviewby Eileen CharbonneauPillars of Avalon is a creative retelling of Newfoundland’s first First Couple: Lord David Kirke and his Lady Sara. Their story traverses the turbulent times in both the Old and New Worlds, from 1628-1675. Although their marriage is a joining of estates, it proves to be a love match as the blustery-hot-headed wine merchant turned Lord governor teams with his clever and resourceful “Twig.” The Kirkes go in and out of favor with Charles I and remain Anglican Royalists during the English civil war. But their hearts and destinies are in the Avalon peninsula of Newfoundland. Details of life in the 17th century abound, from a rollicking wedding night to dress, drink and child-rearing traditions, to the icebergs of the North Atlantic. Wonderful characterizations and exciting action makes this historical fiction in the tradition of Thomas B. Costain.

    Torn apart by rival factions, father opposed son and brother met brother on the battlefield. But while civil war raged on cobbled streets and green fields, inside the home domestic life continued as it always had done. For Ann Fanshawe and her children it meant a life of insecurity and constant jeopardy as she and her husband, a Royalist diplomat, dedicated their lives to the restoration of the Stuart monarchy. In this uncertain world, Ann's 'receipt book' was a treasured and entirely feminine response to the upheavals of war. These books were a feature of women's lives during this period, when there were few doctors to be found, and were full of life-saving medical knowledge that had been gleaned from mothers and friends. Remarkably, Ann's morocco-bound book full of scraps of ink-stained paper has survived to this day.Using Ann's receipt book and the memoirs she wrote for her surviving son, Lucy Moore follows her through this turbulent time as she leaves home, marries, bears - and buries - children and seeks to hold her family together. Lady Fanshawe's Receipt Book brilliantly brings to life Ann's struggles and her joys, revealing how ordinary women across the country fought to protect their loved ones in the face of conflict.

     This is not particularly unusual, but when Eleanor Goodchild, local apothecary and niece of the midwife who delivered the child, sees the body, she begins to suspect that Grace's death may not have been natural. As the local searcher, Eleanor must report the death formally, and so begins her bid to discover the truth behind the young woman's death… Was Grace's husband involved, or the mysterious and haughty French woman who has taken up residence in their home? Or does the truth lie further back, rooted in Grace's former life as the daughter of a village printer? Meanwhile, Eleanor has her own life to manage. Her relationship with her brother Tom, with whom she has lived since the traumatic death of their parents some time ago, is strained and in the absence of a husband, Eleanor's future seems uncertain. Searcher in the Dawn is an intriguing blend of murder-mystery and historical romance, and paints a fascinating portrait of village life and relationships in seventeenth-century England. A compelling story with a striking twist, it will appeal to lovers of crime novels and historical tales alike. Lucinda Becker has spent many years researching and writing about Renaissance women and their ways of living and dying. She has produced a variety of books for university and college students and was once a newspaper feature writer. She lives in the countryside with her family and this is her first work of fiction.

    To make matters worse, she comes from a family of secret Jews. When she is raped as a teenager, she knows she probably will not be able to make a good marriage, so she becomes the mistress of a much older nobleman. During this time she falls in love with poet/player William Shakespeare, and they have a brief, passionate relationship--but when the plague comes to England, the nobleman abandons her, leaving her pregnant and without financial security. In the years that follow, Emilia is forced to make a number of difficult decisions in her efforts to survive, and not all of them turn out well for her. But ultimately, despite the disadvantaged position she was born to, she succeeds in pursuing her dreams of becoming a writer--and even publishes a book of poetry in 1611 that makes a surprisingly modern argument for women's equality.

    - STEVEN SORA, author of The Lost Treasure of the Knights Templar, The Lost Colony of the Templars, Secret Societies of America's EliteA well-researched, original and fascinating work - a real page-turner. - GRAHAM PHILLIPS, bestselling author of The End of Eden, Merlin and the Discovery of Avalon, The Templars and the Ark of the Covenant, Alexander the Great, The Moses Legacy, The Marian Conspiracy, Act of GodFROM THE BACK PAGEIn Medieval England the defence of the realm in times of need rested on the shoulders of twelve men - a secret brotherhood of knights, who answered only to the ruler of England. They were called The White Hart.As they are now...In the hot late summer of 1666, a strange document is delivered to the King of England. The writing, though easy to read, refers to an obscure promise: a great fireworks display will soon take place, culminating in a pure body of flame higher than St Paul's.A week later and with the City of London burned to rubble, the hunt is on for its mysterious sender.Present day: When flames are spotted inside a modern building located at the exact site of Thomas Farriner's bakery in Pudding Lane on the anniversary of the Great Fire, few are prepared that this is just the first phase of the greatest terror attack in living memory. But when information reaches the Prime Minister of a second fire spreading in Edinburgh and a break-in at the Tower of London, it isn't long before chaos ensues.For White Hart agents Mike Hansen and Kit Masterson, the escalating attacks are just the start of a bizarre sequence of events that threaten to send the present and past on a collision course. A forgotten foe has finally resurfaced, their ancient threat being carried out. Armed with both the latest in modern technology and cryptic clues from the nation's dark past, they have no choice but to tackle the threat head on, while also frantically attempting to solve a centuries' old puzzle before it's too late. If successful, they could yet save both cities from certain destruction.But only by uncovering one of history's best-kept secrets can they prevent the past from repeating itself. . .

    Civil War looms between King Charles I and his Puritan Parliament. The excitement of life as officers in King Charles I’s cavalry soon turns sour for brothers Will and Harry Lucie, drawn to the war like moths to a flame. The family divided by the conflict, their sister Bess becomes caught up in the deadly struggle and is forced to flee the family home. In the grim aftermath of battle, Harry is thrown together with grieving widower Gabriel Vaughan, a man concealing a dangerous secret. From the slaughter of Edgehill to the defence of doomed fortress Basing House, the story of dishonour and betrayal plays out against the backdrop of real events and places, "this war without an enemie".

    The Green Phoenix tells the story of the Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang, born a Mongolian princess who became a consort in the Manchu court and then the Qing Dynasty's first matriarch. She lived through harrowing threats, endless political crises, personal heartaches and painful losses to lead a shaky Empire out of a dead end. The story is set against a turbulent canvas as the Chinese Ming Dynasty is replaced by the Qing. Xiaozhuang guides her husband, her lover, her son and her grandson - all emperors and supreme leaders of the Qing Empire - to success against the odds.

    Never had to be. But it's time he grew up and went respectable: a coming man with a wife and family, enjoying the favour of the Commander-in-Chief of the Army of Parliament, his future seems assured – if he keeps his head down. But the rebel rabble won't let him. Worse; they seem determined to bring every disapproving eye in the Army their way. Following a humiliating defeat at the siege of Lathom House, Hollie comes to recognise a new enemy. As the forces of King and Parliament mass for the last great battle for the North of England, he discovers a new enemy - within his own troops. One officer dead, and another broken - perhaps beyond mending. Secrets and shadows in the heart of the Army. Is his family’s future worth the price of Hollie’s silence?

    Authors Michael Edmonds and Samantha Snyder plumbed the depths of the Wisconsin Historical Society’s collections to research and compose lively portraits of eighty of these notable individuals: mayors, ministers, mystics, murderers, and everything in between. Each story is followed by recommended sources for readers’ continued exploration. Whether read on the fly or all in one sitting, these short, colorful narratives will intrigue and inform as you delve into Wisconsin’s diverse and diverting history.

    Bringing Dekker’s devotional classic back into print for the first time since 1924, editor Robert Hudson has annotated the prayers and modernized their language without sacrificing their enchanting beauty and simplicity. Hudson’s substantive and illuminating introduction is a gem in itself.

    Encroachment on the liberties of the Irish lords by the English crown caused Hugh O'Neill, earl of Tyrone, to build an unprecedented confederation of Irish lords leading a new Irish military armed with pike and shot. This book is an important reassessment of the military dimensions of the Nine Years War, as situated in the wider context of European political and military history. Backed by Philip II of Spain, Tyrone and his allies outclassed the forces of the English Crown, achieving a string of stunning victories and bringing the power of Elizabeth I in Ireland to the brink of collapse. The opening shots were fired in Ulster, but from 1593 to 1599 war engulfed all of Ireland. The conflict consumed the lives and reputations of Elizabeth's court favourites as they struggled to cope with the new Irish way of war. Sophisticated strategy and modern tactics made the Irish war appear unwinable to many in England, but Lord Mountjoy's arrival as deputy in 1600 changed everything. Mountjoy reformed the demoralized English army and rolled back the advances achieved by Tyrone. Mountjoy's success was crowned by his shattering defeat of Tyrone and his Spanish allies at Kinsale in 1601, which ultimately led to the earl's submission in 1603, though not before famine, misery and atrocity took their toll on the people of Ireland. This book rewrites the narrative and interpretation of the Nine Years War. It uses military evidence to show that not only was Irish society progressive, it was also quicker to adopt military and technological change than its English enemies.

    Russell, however, always considered himself more frog than ‘prince charming’… But as war with the Dutch looms and tensions run high in the streets of London, the passionate republican principles that saw Thomazine first fall in love with her rebel white-knight are suddenly suspicious. Would a man whose principles led him to once take up arms against his King, turn his coat again and work against His Majesty for the Dutch Republic? Someone wants to make it seem so. Accused of arson and murder, suspected of treason, dismissed from his post and shunned by polite society, Russell - with a disfigured man's horror of being conspicuous - favours returning to domestic obscurity, but Thomazine is determined to face down their accusers.In desperation, Thomaszine turns to the Merry Gang, the demimonde ring of fashionable libertines headed up by the cunning John Wilmot, the Earl of Rochester. Plunged into a dark world of conspiracies, deceit, revenge and kidnap, Thomazine Babbitt will stop at nothing in her quest to claim back her hero’s innocence.

    Their enthusiastic delight in sailing, for instance, is often cited as marking the establishment of yachting in England. The major naval developments in their reigns on the other hand – developments that effectively turned the Royal Navy into a permanent, professional fighting force for the first time – have traditionally been attributed to Samuel Pepys.This new book, based on a wide range of new and previously neglected evidence, presents a provocative new theory: that the creation of the proper ‘Royal Navy’ was in fact due principally to the Stuart brothers, particularly Charles II, who is presented here, not as the lazy monarch neglectful of the detail of government, but as a king with an acute and detailed interest in naval affairs. The author also demonstrates that Charles’ Stuart predecessors were far more directly involved in naval matters than has usually been allowed, and proves that Charles’ and James’ command of ship design and other technical matters went well beyond the bounds of dilettante enthusiasm.It is shown how Charles in particular, intervened in ship design discussions at a highly technical level; how the brothers were principally responsible for the major reforms that established a permanent naval profession; and how they personally sponsored important expeditions and projects such as Greenvile Collins’ survey of British waters. The book also reassesses James II’s record as a fighting admiral.It is a fascinating journey into the world of the Stuart navy and shows how the ‘Kings of the Sea’ were absolutely central to the development of its ships, their deployment and the officer corps which commanded them; it offers a major reassessment of that dynasty’s involvement in naval warfare.

    To better rule these vast dominions, Britain set out to map its new territories with unprecedented rigor and precision. Max Edelson’s The New Map of Empire pictures the contested geography of the British Atlantic world and offers new explanations of the causes and consequences of Britain’s imperial ambitions in the generation before the American Revolution.Under orders from King George III to reform the colonies, the Board of Trade dispatched surveyors to map far-flung frontiers, chart coastlines in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, sound Florida’s rivers, parcel tropical islands into plantation tracts, and mark boundaries with indigenous nations across the continental interior. Scaled to military standards of resolution, the maps they produced sought to capture the essential attributes of colonial spaces―their natural capacities for agriculture, navigation, and commerce―and give British officials the knowledge they needed to take command over colonization from across the Atlantic.Britain’s vision of imperial control threatened to displace colonists as meaningful agents of empire and diminished what they viewed as their greatest historical accomplishment: settling the new world. As London’s mapmakers published these images of order in breathtaking American atlases, Continental and British forces were already engaged in a violent contest over who would control the real spaces they represented.Accompanying Edelson’s innovative spatial history of British America are online visualizations of more than 250 original maps, plans, and charts.

    Yet in King William’s War, the first clash between England and France for control of North America, the patterns of conflict for the next seventy years were laid, as were the goals and objectives of both sides, as well as the realization that the colonies of the two nations could not coexist.    King William’s War actually encompassed several proxy wars being fought by the English and the French through their native allies. The Beaver Wars was a long running feud between the Iroquois Confederacy, New France, and New France’s native allies over control of the lucrative fur trade. Fueled by English guns and money, the Iroquois attempted to divert the French fur trade towards their English trading partners in Albany, and in the process gain control over other Indian tribes. To the east the pro-French Wabanaki of Maine, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick had earlier fought a war with New England, but English expansion and French urgings, aided by foolish moves and political blunders on the part of New England, erupted into a second Wabanaki War on the eve of King William’s War. Thus, these two conflicts officially became one with the arrival of news of a declaration of war between France and England in 1689. The next nine years saw coordinated attacks, including French assaults on Schenectady, New York, and Massachusetts, and English attacks around Montreal and on Nova Scotia. The war ended diplomatically, but started again five years later in Queen Anne’s War.    A riveting history full of memorable characters and events, and supported by extensive primary source material, King William’s War: The First Contest for North America, 1689–1697 by Michael G. Laramie is the first book-length treatment of a war that proved crucial to the future of North America.

    After victory in the battles of Adwalton Moor and Roundway Down, and the capture of Bristol, King Charles I looks certain to defeat his rebellious Parliament. The King and his advisors have a simple choice: to march on London, or to seize Gloucester - the last Roundhead stronghold in the west.The Mercenary Creed: A mercenary is placed in an impossible command. Davenant’s Egg: A poet seeks redemption for his past crimes. The Gravediggers: Digging is hard work in a town besieged. A Dowry Cow: A cheesy love story. The Red Regiment: Two boys follow their hero in search of glory.

    Because Christmas, even in Restoration Buckinghamshire, is a time for families to be together, and Thomazine wants it to be a time of quiet happiness. So does her father. That's why he's ridden eighty miles in the snow to deliver his wayward youngest daughter to Four Ashes. There's little more determined than a seventeen-year-old girl with theatrical amvbitions - apart from possibly the determination of her elder sister not to have that peaceful family Christmas disrupted. Will 1666 see the Matchless Thalia estranged from her family, or can Thomazine see that peace and goodwill extend to all men - as well as actresses?

    Though the events of this significant time period have been examined in great detail from a historical point of view, the period has never before been discussed in detail focusing specifically on portraiture. Art historians have tended to ignore the timeframe because it falls between Van Dyck, court painter to Charles I, and Sir Peter Lely, court painter to Charles II. But this book seeks to change that perspective, revealing that these tumultuous years represent as much of an artistic transformation as a political one.   In this book, Angus Haldane examines the portraiture and history of the English Civil Wars through representations of the protagonists who were involved in the conflict. Each portrait is presented here alongside a short biography of the protagonist’s life, and is accompanied by an extended discussion on the iconography of the painting and its art historical relevance, including aspects of patronage. The first book in the new series the Face of War, it will be an essential reference for anyone interested in the history of portraiture and the historical figures of the English Civil War.

    It has broadened the historical agenda to include many previously little-studied, or wholly neglected, dimensions of the English past. It has also provided a fuller context for understanding more established themes in the political, religious, economic and intellectual histories of the period. This volume serves two main purposes. Firstly, it summarises, in an accessible way, the principal findings of forty years of research on English society in this period, providing a comprehensive overview of social and cultural change in an era vital to the development of English social identities. Second, the chapters, by leading experts, also stimulate fresh thinking by not only taking stock of current knowledge but also extending it, identifying problems, proposing fresh interpretations and pointing to unexplored possibilities. It will be essential reading for students, teachers and general readers.

    Among the generals of the Bavarian Army were Count Johan von Tilly and Gottfried von Pappenheim, who are two of the most famous generals of the war. This book covers not only the Bavarian Army's organisation, but also has chapters on recruitment, officers, clothing, weaponry, pay and rations of a soldier during the Thirty Years War. As well as life and death in the army, this book also looks at the women who accompanied it. The chapter on 'civilians and soldiers' looks at the impact of the war on the civilian population, their reaction to it and the infamous sack of Magdeburg which sent shockwaves across Europe. This chapter also looks at the impact on Bavaria by having Swedish, Spanish and Imperialist troops quartered upon it and how this affected the country's war effort. In addition there are chapters on regimental colours and a detailed look into the tactics of the time, including those of Spain, Sweden and the Dutch. As well as using archival and archaeological evidence to throw new light on the subject the author has used several memoirs written by those who served in the army during the war, including Peter Hagendorf who served in Pappenheim 's Regiment of Foot from 1627 until the regiment was disbanded after the war. Hagendorf's vivid account is unique because not only is it a full account of the life of a common soldier during the war, but also records the human side of campaign, including the death of his two wives and all but two of his children. This book is essential reading to anyone interested in the wars of the early seventeenth century, not just the Thirty Years War.

    This book fills a gap in the literature of the Civil Wars, taking up the challenge to write a new history of Essex and his Army and examining the often-repeated view that he was a cautious dullard with little military skill. The two authors Christopher Scott and Alan Turton, both well known published military historians, present a more balanced view of Parliament s first Lord General, bringing him out of the shadow of Cromwell. In doing so they are not afraid to bite the bullet of period and modern criticism of Essex as a strategist and tactician, as well as his reported failings as a man. Based on primary research, including site visits to scenes of his triumphs and disasters, they trace the story of the early campaigns, beginning with Edgehill, then Brentford and Turnham Green, the relief of Gloucester and the retreat to Newbury, the Siege of Reading, the Thames Valley Campaign, the disaster of Lostwithiel and the rebuilding of the army for Second Newbury. Whilst they leave the detailed examination of the various battles fought by Essex and his men to more specialist books, they tell the story of each of the campaigns and share their thoughts on Essex s problems and his decisions and actions. They also examine how the armies were constituted, officered, recruited and maintained, as well as its reductions and transfers. In separate chapters they describe Essex s Foot, the Horse, the Dragoons, The Artillery and The Train, dealing with what the army wore, what it was paid, what weapons it used, the flags it carried and how it was organised, operated and fought. All this is set within a sound understanding and appreciation of the background of the seventeenth century and Essex s place in the socio-political zeitgeist as well as period military thinking and practice. Illustrated with a wealth of seldom-seen contemporary engravings of Essex s officers and friends and newly commissioned maps, as well as uniform and cornets & colours plates, this work is of great use to anyone with an interest in our civil wars including academics, local historians, re-enactors and wargamers."

    Rembrandts Paintings Revisited - A Complete Survey

    Born in London in 1615, Lisle's father was a well-connected publisher and monopolist, and his mother a kinswoman of the Duke of Buckingham. Raised in the city of Westminster in a landscape of court intrigue, royal favoritism and ill-advised royal financial experiments, Lisle took to soldiering and was commissioned as a Lieutenant-Colonel at the outbreak of war in 1642. He fought at Edgehill; then at Chalgrove and the First Battle of Newbury in 1643 - latterly where his courage in leading a forlorn hope against a wall of musketeers and artillery first drew him to public attention. Commissioned shortly afterwards as a full Colonel, in 1644 he took charge of a veteran regiment and was noticed again for his diligence and efficiency at the Battle of Cheriton, despite the battle being lost. Weeks later, he was promoted to tertio command and accompanied Charles on his critical 'night march' from Oxford. At the Second Battle of Newbury in October, to prevent his position being overwhelmed, he famously tore off his coat and led three charges in his shirtsleeves - driving off the enemy and preventing disaster. Reputedly refusing a knighthood, he wintered as a garrison commander before leading the principal assault on the city of Leicester in May 1645 and then being badly wounded at Naseby. Knighted in December, he remained at Oxford until its surrender in June 1646 - returning to London in 1647. In 1648, he took up arms again during the Kent rebellion before enduring a three-month siege inside the town of Colchester. Infamously (and controversially), he was executed after the starving town surrendered - and this catapulted him to the status of 'Royalist martyr'. In this first ever biography of Lisle, the author has scoured dozens of primary sources for fragmentary references - painstakingly piecing together his personal background and reexamining every known detail of his career. The accuracy of existing stories and long-held assumptions about him is investigated minutely, and the first well-informed assessments made of his character and motives. Finally, the persistent memory of his execution is traced forwards through later writers and painters into the 20th century to complete the first cohesive picture of one of King Charles' most loyal, effective and respected military officers.