Granddaughter of a local hero, Mercy Bennington moves out of the shadow of her elder brother to become a leader of the protestors, finding the strength to confront the enemies who endanger the survival of her village and her own life. Yet the violence wreaked upon the fragile fenlands unleashes a force no one can control – flood.

    His father, John Dudley, saw his own father executed by Henry VIII when he ascended the throne, and suffered ignominy and obscurity as a result. But John is determined to rise high and see his family restored to its former glorious position. He places his sons in the Royal Household, and Robert spends his childhood years at the Royal Court, as playmate to King Henry's children, Prince Edward and the Lady Elizabeth. Robert sees his father gain power and influence, becoming the young King Edward VI's most important courtier. But when John tries to make his daughter-in-law, Lady Jane Grey, queen,the Catholic Mary Tudor proves she has the support of the people, and John is forced to renounce Jane and proclaim Mary queen. For their part in the Nine Days Queen affair, John and his sons are imprisoned in the Tower of London, to await trial and probable execution. Forced to admit that he erred in his belief in the New Religion, Protestantism, John, along with his son, Guildford who married Jane Grey, are executed, having their heads cut off on Tower Hill. One more brother dies of illness, and Queen Mary shows mercy and releases the remaining three brothers. Robert becomes desperate to restore the family's name and fortune, and persuades his brothers to join Queen Mary's husband, King Philip of Spain, in a war against the French. In France, the youngest Dudley brother, Henry, is killed, but Robert is mentioned in despatches as having fought valiantly, and the taint of attainder is removed from the Dudley family name. The Dudleys are not considered traitors any longer. But Robert is still not wanted at court, and he is forced to leave London and settle down with his wife, Amy Robsart, in Norfolk. But he soon grows tired of both the country and his wife, and hopes one day to be able to return to the court. His chance comes when Queen Mary dies and Elizabeth Tudor becomes queen. Abandoning his wife, Robert rushes to her side. Elizabeth soon falls in love with Robert, and sordid rumours spread throughout Europe about their relationship, made worse when Robert's wife dies in mysterious circumstances, and he is suspected of having her murdered. Exiled from the court, Robert has to wait in the country for the coroner's court to return a verdict of Accidental Death before Elizabeth allows him to return to her. Robert is now a free man, but Elizabeth, ever fearful of relinquishing her power, and haunted by the beheadings of her mother, Anne Boleyn, and her stepmother, Katherine Howard, will not agree to marry him, while jealously keeping him by her side. But Robert keeps hoping, and with his heart set on becoming king, he is forced to live a double life, keeping his mistress and illegitimate son secret to avoid Elizabeth's wrath. Until he falls in love with Elizabeth's cousin, the pretty and seductive, Lettice. Lettice demands marriage when she becomes pregnant, and Robert, tired of waiting for Elizabeth and wanting an heir to carry on the Dudley name, agrees. Meanwhile, his growing reputation as politician and staunch Protestant, means that Europe looks to him to solve their religious and territorial problems. Ever eager to improve his reputation and to prove that he is more than Elizabeth's favourite, he launches himself into war in the Netherlands, and is finally offered the governorship of the Dutch, making him a king in all but name. He accepts the Dutch offer but when Elizabeth hears of it, she is furious and insists that he renounce the title. Robert is forced to make a humiliating exit. He returns to England, disappointed and broken in body. Forced to become a soldier again when the Spanish launch their Armada, Robert is too ill to celebrate the English victory and dies en route to taking the spa waters at Buxton. When Elizabeth hears the news, she looks herself away in her room to grieve alone.

    Many years later, a couple sailing around the world take refuge on an uncharted island. Although they believe the tiny atoll to be uninhabited, it is actually home to a mysterious woman who has been stranded there for more than forty years. As that woman ponders whether to stay hidden or step back into society, a tempestuous storm threatens to change the course of all their lives.

    It takes place during pre-Revolutionary War age, truly a fascinating time in history that has been greatly ignored by other authors. At its heart, it is a tale of prisoners, refugees and society's casts offs all joining together to escape from government tyranny and discover a path to liberty. Find out how a group of oppressed colonists gain the courage to start defying authority and begin planning a revolution from British control. It is a gritty, vivid account of what life was like in the 1700's and is loaded with real, obscure historical events that time erased and buried. Follow the group of freedom seekers as their adventure takes them through Savannah, the Florida Keys, St. Augustine, Charles Towne and Cape Fear, as well as many other towns of the Low Country. Most importantly it is a fun read loaded with action. Please note: There are two versions of this novel, one for adults and one that has been adapted to be the first in a trilogy of novels for young adults. If you spend your booty on this, you're buying the adult version, yarrr.

    William Boyd's novel Any Human Heart is his disjointed autobiography, a massive tome chronicling "my personal rollercoaster"--or rather, "not so much a rollercoaster", but a yo-yo, "a jerking spinning toy in the hands of a maladroit child." From his early childhood in Montevideo, son of an English corned beef executive and his Uraguayan secretary, through his years at a Norfolk public school and Oxford, Mountstuart traces his haphazard development as a writer. Early and easy success is succeeded by a long half-century of mediocrity, disappointments and setbacks, both personal and professional, leading him to multiple failed marriages, internment, alcoholism, and abject poverty.Mountstuart's sorry tale is also the story of a British way of life in inexorable decline, as his journey takes in the Bloomsbury set, the General Strike, the Spanish Civil War, 1930s Americans in Paris, wartime espionage, New York avant garde art, even the Baader-Meinhof gang--all with a stellar supporting cast. The most sustained and best moment comes mid-book, as Mountstuart gets caught up in one of Britain's murkier wartime secrets, in the company of the here truly despicable Duke and Duchess of Windsor. Elsewhere Boyd occasionally misplaces his tongue too obviously in his cheek--the Wall Street Crash is trailed with truly crashing inelegance--but overall Any Human Heart is a witty, inventive and ultimately moving novel. Boyd succeeds in conjuring not only a compelling 20th century but also, in the hapless Logan Mountstuart, an anti-hero who achieves something approaching passive greatness. --Alan Stewart, Amazon.co.uk

    Navy Submarine S-51 sank in 132 feet of water, taking 33 sailors to the ocean floor. This is the story of the men charged with doing the impossible—raising the thousand ton sub from the bottom of the sea. Added to this modern classic of true adventure are a foreword and afterword giving specifics of the accident and the aftermath, additional photographs, a publisher’s preface, and appendices.

    Men like John Killigrew, commanding a key position on the Cornish coast, were vital to the survival of the country, and it is through the eyes of his eldest son, Maugan, that the story unfolds. Rich in action, it is also crowded with unforgettable characters, many of them based on actual historical figures. Maugan Killigrew himself emerges, through his loneliness and his love, his physical suffering in a Spanish gaol, as a touchingly honest and believable character who is, above all things, a man of his time.

    Everything Anne touches seems to turn to gold, and Mary is certain Anne will one day become Queen. But Mary has also seen the King's fickle nature and how easily he discards those who were once close to him. . . Discovering that she is a pawn in a carefully orchestrated plot devised by her father, the duke of Norfolk, Mary dare not disobey him. Yet despite all of her efforts to please him, she too falls prey to his cold wrath. Not until she becomes betrothed to Harry Fitzroy, the Duke of Richmond and son to King Henry VIII, does Mary find the love and approval she's been seeking. But just when Mary believes she is finally free of her father, the tides turn. Now Mary must learn to play her part well in a dangerous chess game that could change her life--and the course of history.

    Started by Martin Luther in 1517, religious dissidence spread across Europe throughout the sixteenth century, causing wars, migration and disunity. By 1648 Henry VIII’s desire for divorce led him to break with the Catholic Church in Rome and form the Church of England.The Reformation: History in an Hour is a clear and comprehensive look at this long and complex period of religious change. It explains the major causes of the Reformation and the differences between Protestants and Catholics. It will help you understand the significance of the Reformation in European history in just one hour.Know your stuff: Read a concise history of the Protestant Reformation in just one hour.

    Katherine Parr survived Henry VIII to find true love with Thomas Seymour – only to realise that her love was based on a lie. Clever, sensible and well-liked, Katherine Parr trod a knife edge of diplomacy and risk during her marriage to an ageing, cantankerous King Henry. When he died, she was in her late thirties and love, it seemed, had passed her by. Until, that is, the popular Thomas Seymour – bold, handsome, witty and irresistible – began a relentless courtship that won her heart. Kate fell passionately in love for the first time in her life and, also for the first time, threw caution to the wind with a marriage that shocked the worldly courtiers around her.But all too soon it becomes obvious that Thomas has plans beyond his marriage for the young, capricious, quick-witted heir to the throne – Elizabeth – and that in his quest for power, he might even be prepared to betray his now pregnant wife…Kate's whirlwind romance is witnessed and recounted by her closest friend, Catherine, Duchess of Suffolk, who lives through the tumultuous years after Henry's death at Kate's side. A sharp and canny courtier in her own right, Cathy is keenly aware of the political realities of life at court and is, apparently, a loyal supporter of her friend. As her story weaves its way through that of Kate and Thomas's heady passion and tragic denouement, however, it gradually becomes clear that Cathy has her own tale of betrayal and regret to tell…

    "No pen or brush can picture life in the old Southern States in the ante-bellum days. The period comprehends two hundred and fifty years of history without a parallel. A separate and distinct civilization was there represented, the like of which can never be reproduced. Socially, intellectually, politically and religiously, she stood pre-eminent, among nations. It was the spirit of the cavalier that created and sustained our greatness. Give the Puritan his due, and still the fact remains. The impetus that led to freedom from Great Britain, came from the South. A Southern General led the ragged Continentals on to victory. Southern jurists and Southern statesmanship guided the councils of wisdom. The genius of war pervaded her people. She gave presidents, cabinet officers, commanders, tacticians and strategists. Her legislation extended the country's territory from the Atlantic to the Pacific. "

    She finds the passion her spirit craves in the love of a daring French pirate who is being hunted by all of Cornwall.Together, they embark upon a quest rife with danger and glory, one which bestows upon Dona the ultimate choice: sacrifice her lover to certain death or risk her own life to save him.

    Ella, the barmaid at the pub, is secretly in love with Bob.

    Henderson is that rare bird, a reporter with a fine grasp of time and place, but also a stylist of enviable quality and perception' Michael ParkinsonNeville Cardus once said there could be no summer in England without cricket.The 2019 season was supposed to be the greatest summer of cricket ever seen in England. There was a World Cup, followed by five Test matches against Australia in the latest engagement of sport's oldest rivalry. It was also the last season of county cricket before the introduction in 2020 of a new tournament, The Hundred, designed to attract an audience of younger people who have no interest in the summer game.In That Will Be England Gone, Michael Henderson revisits much-loved places to see how the game he grew up with has changed since the day in 1965 that he saw the great fast bowler Fred Trueman in his pomp. He watches schoolboys at Repton, club cricketers at Ramsbottom, and professionals on the festival grounds of Chesterfield, Cheltenham and Scarborough. The rolling English road takes him to Leicester for T20, to Lord's for the most ceremonial Test match, and to Taunton to watch an old cricketer leave the crease for the last time. He is enchanted at Trent Bridge, surprised at the Oval, and troubled at Old Trafford.'Cricket,' Henderson says, 'has always been part of my other life.' There are memories of friendships with Ken Dodd, Harold Pinter and Simon Rattle, and the book is coloured throughout by a love of landscape, poetry, paintings and music. As well as reflections on his childhood hero, Farokh Engineer, and other great players, there are digressions on subjects as various as Lancashire comedians, Viennese melancholy and the films of Michael Powell.Lyrical and elegiac, That Will Be England Gone is a deeply personal tribute to cricket, summer and England.'Admirers of Neville Cardus and A. E. Housman will warm to Michael Henderson's elegy for an ideal England. A rich roast dinner of cricket, music, topography, nostalgia and anecdote, washed down with prose as smooth and satisfying as a pint of Otter Ale' Sebastian Faulks

    To the great Catholic powers of France and Spain, England was a heretic pariah state, a canker to be cut away for the health of the greater body of Christendom. Elizabeth's government, defending God's true Church of England and its leader, the queen, could stop at nothing to defend itself.Headed by the brilliant, enigmatic, and widely feared Sir Francis Walsingham, the Elizabethan state deployed every dark art: spies, double agents, cryptography, and torture. Delving deeply into sixteenth-century archives, Stephen Alford offers a groundbreaking, chillingly vivid depiction of Elizabethan espionage, literally recovering it from the shadows. In his company we follow Her Majesty's agents through the streets of London and Rome, and into the dank cells of the Tower. We see the world as they saw it-ever unsure who could be trusted or when the fatal knock on their own door might come. The Watchers is a riveting exploration of loyalty, faith, betrayal, and deception with the highest possible stakes, in a world poised between the Middle Ages and modernity.