Act of Oblivion: The Sunday Times Bestseller

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Pacy and tense, and the pungently evoked past offers up some shrewd present-day parallels Mail on Sunday I. Убийствата на крале не са нещо нечувано за 17-ти век, но официална смъртна присъда над едноличен владетел, обнародвана и приведена в изпълнение публично, ��езспорно е прецедент. В рамките на 11 години Англия е република. Посланието на надделелите през тези 11 години пуритани, наред с останалото, за първи път в Европа ясно и категорично заявява, че кралете не са над закона, важещ за техните поданици. И че властта на кралете не се дава от Бога, напук на официалната теза. The book excels in its stunning recreation of the landscape of America... Harris proves himself to be masterful at this and it gives the book a vibrant memorability New Statesman Few writers combine history, politics and excitement of a thriller as enthrallingly as Robert Harris does. Sunday Times Like in An Officer and a Spy, Robert Harris has taken a little known historical episode and written a lengthy novel about it - and, like that other novel, Act of Oblivion is unfortunately really boring.

Act of Oblivion: The Sunday Times Bestseller Kindle Edition Act of Oblivion: The Sunday Times Bestseller Kindle Edition

A masterclass in storytelling, so enthralling that if you'd disembowelled me whilst I was reading this book I doubt I'd have noticed! Daily ExpressPart of the novel is written from the perspective of Nayler and part from the points of view of Ned Whalley and Will Goffe. This means that the reader knows from the beginning exactly where Ned and Will have gone – they have crossed the Atlantic to America, to build new lives for themselves in the like-minded Puritan colonies of Massachusetts and Connecticut. When Nayler arrives in pursuit, however, the two regicides are forced to move from one hiding place to another, never able to relax, knowing that they could be betrayed by anyone at any time. But now, ten years after Charles’ beheading, the royalists have returned to power. Under the provisions of the Act of Oblivion, the fifty-nine men who signed the king’s death warrant and participated in his execution have been found guilty in absentia of high treason. Some of the Roundheads, including Oliver Cromwell, are already dead. Others have been captured, hung, drawn, and quartered. A few are imprisoned for life. But two have escaped to America by boat.

Act of Oblivion: A Novel by Robert Harris, Paperback | Barnes Act of Oblivion: A Novel by Robert Harris, Paperback | Barnes

A disappointing one for me, then, though most people seem to be loving it, so as usual it clearly comes down to subjective taste. He took a while to reply. By the time he spoke the men had gone inside. He said quietly, “They killed the King.” Every quarry needs a hunter. Harris counterbalances Whalley and Goffe with Richard Nayler, the fictional secretary to the regicide committee of the privy council, who has a powerful personal reason to want them dead. Meanwhile in London, Frances, Goffe’s devoted wife and Whalley’s daughter, provides another viewpoint. The novel’s narrative structure moves to and fro between them, ultimately leading to a brisk if slightly implausible conclusion. This is a novel that asks big historical questions. You could read it as a pure thriller, and it is one of Harris's most compellingly paced to date. You could read it as a piece of intelligent historical immersion. I think it is more; I think it is his best novel since Fatherland. Sunday Times

Following the restoration of the monarchy in 1660, Charles II wants revenge on the men who were responsible for the murder of his father, Charles I. Many of the men who signed the warrant for the King’s execution have already died in the normal course of things, or have been rounded up and imprisoned, to be executed in their turn. But several are still on the run, hiding out in England or in Protestant countries on the continent. And two, Ned Whalley and Will Goffe, have made it all the way to the New World, to hide out in the Puritan settlements there. Richard Nayler is the man appointed to hunt them down, a man whose loyalty to the new King is matched by a personal grievance he holds against Cromwell’s men. Act of Oblivion is an epic journey across continents, and a chase like no other. It is the thrilling new novel by Robert Harris.