However, a lifelong interest in the period and events had not prepared me for the challenges and rewards of writing a tale about them. As I have already mentioned, the English Civil War is an unwieldy subject, which is perhaps why historical adventure novelists have, in the main, left it alone. Perhaps it was inevitable, but I soon found that I was never going to be able to cover as much ground in the first book as I had initially planned. This was because the three main characters, from whose perspectives we view the events, demanded to be heard. Whereas I had thought to march from battle to battle, from the bloodbath of Edgehill to the cut and dash of Brentford, I found that Edmund, Tom and Elizabeth Rivers had their own ideas and, for better or worse, depending on what type of book you were hoping for, I allowed them the space they sought. I found myself moved when writing of their struggles, admittedly a new experience for me. Some of this is perhaps down to being a father myself these days, the arrival of my little girl, Freyja, having no doubt softened me up. Moreover, sometimes when writing a particularly gruesome scene (the hanging, drawing and quartering in this book springs to mind!), I even horrified myself, thinking, gosh, this is just appalling, I hope Freyja never reads it! But perhaps an even stronger reason for my own empathy, even sympathy, towards my characters is again due in part to the contrast between this book and those making up my Raven saga. The Viking books come with a certain level of expectation. That is to say, the protagonists are Vikings and so you expect them to wilfully pillage and slaughter. Acts of sudden violence are a prerequisite, all part of the job (and yes, remember that Viking is a job description, not the name of a people). In short, with that lot you expect bad behaviour – indeed it may be why you bought the books. In this novel, though, the principal characters are by comparison civilized, normal people (if you can consider a family of Lancashire gentry normal). They are victims of events beyond their control. They become caught up in a terrible war that sees them – Tom and Mun at least – all of a sudden having to shoot dead other human beings, or hack into them with cold, sharp steel. Because the violence is not casual, when it does come it is all the more shocking. And by that token it has a more discernible effect on those suddenly engaged in it. Of course, when it comes to the battles I have taken certain liberties for dramatic effect. For instance, in reality a person’s entire experience of the wars might have been a brief (yet no doubt terrifying) skirmish along some nameless country lane. Tom and Mun on the other hand are subject to what I call the ‘Sharpe effect’, that is of always being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Unluckily for them, but for the sake of the drama in the tale, they will experience many of the major battles that serve as markers throughout this series. However, having said that that is stretching reality a little, there is no doubt that the likes of Cromwell and Prince Rupert were themselves present at numerous fights and survived very many potentially life-threatening actions, so perhaps Mun and Tom’s involvement is not so unbelievable after all.
There were other marked differences in writing this book, one being the language itself. In the Raven saga I very purposefully chose language that would ‘feel’ right for the period and the people. Its quality had to be at times quite harsh and abrasive, to give at least an impression of Old Norse or Anglo Saxon. Often the obvious word would, in the writing, look incongruous, its very sense seeming anachronistic. Even though no Viking ever uttered a single word that you’ll find in the novels, I chose the language carefully to weave a certain impression. In this novel I was suddenly presented with an infinitely broader palette with which to paint; the vocabulary bag was much deeper. I’m not saying there was no poetry in the Raven prose – there certainly was – but in The Bleeding Land I was given relatively free rein and it was thrilling.
Well, I say free rein but it’s rarely as straightforward as that. When writing historical fiction one very often has to make difficult choices regarding terminology. Let me give you an example. My copy-editor said that, to her, some of the spellings I had used felt too self-consciously archaic. My use of ‘pott’ (helmet) was one such, and so we agreed to stick with ‘pot’. She did let me get away with ‘poll-axe’ (though with added hyphen), but noted that, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, ‘pole-axe’ had taken over as the most common spelling by 1625. However, I’ve seen the word in contemporary texts written ‘poll axe’, ‘pole-axe’ and ‘pollaxe’. Another case in point was ‘snapsack.’ Now, then, if you were to go to a re-enactment event you would see the soldiers equipped with a simple tube of canvas or leather that is secured at each end and carried across the back by a stout leather strap. In this bag the soldier carries everything he needs on the march, including spare clothing, money, flint, steel and charcloth, a wooden bowl and spoon, leather bottle, blanket, etc. Generally, a soldier was to carry three days’ provisions in his ‘snapsack’. However, according to OED, the word ‘snapsack’ only came into common (written) usage about a decade after the events of this book. The suggestion was that since ‘knapsack’ is the older word for the same object and still current, it seemed preferable. I didn’t disagree (though still admit to being curiously fond of ‘snapsack’).
As you can see, there are occasions when the author has to decide whether he or she wants to please the period expert by using the lingo in which he or she is immersed, or the general reader who might find unfamiliar terms awkward or confusing. I hope I have struck an acceptable balance.
What else? Well, the environment and the landscape itself was a marked contrast. Charles I’s London is a far cry from the pastoral, agrarian world of ninth-century Mercia or Frankia. In fact, my agent told me that in this book London itself is almost a character. I know what he means. Of course, this often complicated matters for the author. The seventeenth-century urban environment is sufficiently familiar to us to let us think we can picture it, but it has changed more than enough to make the research somewhat of a headache. Let us not forget that some twenty-four years after the bulk of this novel is set, the Great Fire gutted London, specifically the central parts of the city within the old Roman wall, all but obliterating the medieval city. Sometimes one has to dig a little beneath the ashes for answers.
Which leads me to a confession or three. Whilst I have tried to convey the events in this book as we understand them today, at least in historical terms, I have at times exercised a novelist’s prerogative and am guilty of a little conflation of events for dramatic purposes. The Grand Remonstrance was passed in November, but the Root and Branch petition and Colonel Lunsford’s intervention were December. I closed this gap to have them happen more or less concurrently. Also, the Wormleighton skirmish actually happened the night before the Battle of Edgehill rather than four or five days earlier as in my narrative. As for the battle itself, my telling of it might not fit squarely with the traditional assumptions and indeed your own understanding of what happened on that October day in 1642. That is because after reading numerous accounts of the battle I decided to base my own version on Malcolm Wanklyn’s study in his book Decisive Battles of the English Civil War. Using contemporary accounts and, importantly, by methodically examining the terrain over which the battle was fought, Wanklyn has reassessed the Battle of Edgehill. And whilst his evaluation is perhaps slightly controversial, his new viewpoint questioning the perceived understanding of events, I found his account compelling. It just seemed to me to ring true and so I have followed in his boot prints to a large extent.
As for Shear House, it did not exist. However, the idea for the siege in this story is loosely inspired by the very real siege of Lathom House near Ormskirk in Lancashire in April of 1643. The episode and the defiant stand of Charlotte de la Tremoille, Countess of Derby, is one of the most celebrated of the war. For me, the proposition of writing strong, brave women was too tempting to ignore and Lady Mary’s rejection of terms for surrender is based on Lady Derby’s actual morale-boosting and elaborate speech of defiance delivered to the Parliamentarian Colonel Rigby. However, I don’t see much point in going through and sayin
g which parts of the novel are based on real events and which are made up, which of the characters really existed and which are invention. An historical novel is by necessity a blending of truth (or a version of truth as it has been passed down to us) and the author’s own imagination. We have the luxury of taking real events and making them the skeleton of a story upon which we then place the flesh and, hopefully, a human face that the modern reader can recognize. That is what makes it, to my mind at least, such a rich and rewarding genre. An historical novel is an invitation to you to join the author on his or her journey to the past as it might have been. Assuming you are adhering to convention and reading this note after having read the story (my mother, frustratingly, often reads the last pages of a novel first!) I am truly honoured you accepted my invitation.
When all is said and done, this is simply a story, a tall tale and nothing more. My very greatest hope is that you have enjoyed it.
One final pleasure remains and that is to thank some very important people. Firstly I want to acknowledge Mr Transworld himself, Larry Finlay, for wholeheartedly backing this book even before my first novel, Raven: Blood Eye had been published in mass-market paperback. Since the very beginning, Larry has shown me unstinting support, giving me the freedom and confidence to get on with the job, and for that I’m tremendously grateful. Likewise, I want to say a huge thank you to my editor, Simon Taylor, whose brisk enthusiasm is only matched by his astute understanding of the craft. He is also great fun to work with, all of which makes my job the easier. My agent, Bill Hamilton, deserves wholehearted thanks for putting up with me. Bill, you know all that sensible and well-considered advice? Well, keep it coming! And while I’m at it I must tip my three-bar pot helmet at Stephen Mulcahey who designs my covers. Steve, if I hadn’t written them, I’d buy them for the covers alone. That’s good enough for me.
I’d also like to thank a good friend and film director with whom I’ve twice had the privilege of working, first for a short film and book trailer for my Raven saga, and recently for the trailer to the Bleeding Land series. Phil Stevens and the fantastically talented team at Urban Apache Films have gone above and beyond to produce two stunning pieces of work that, in my opinion, put even some Hollywood multi-million-dollar movies to shame. Talent always rises to the top, and my heartfelt gratitude goes to Phil and the team for all their support.
As I have mentioned, this novel presented its own set of challenges, particularly the research side of things. Fortunate for me then that in 2010 at English Heritage’s Festival of History at Kelmarsh Hall I met a group who have been only too happy to share with me their passion for keeping history alive. The Fairfax Battalia of the English Civil War Society have invited me into their ranks, put me in full kit, and given us fantastic photo opportunities. Ken Clayton deserves special mention for being incredibly helpful and for introducing me to Fairfax Battalia’s CO, Simon Frame. Simon very kindly agreed to read this novel in draft form and share with me his prodigious knowledge of the period. Many of my original errors are not present in this book as a result of Simon’s eagle eye. Thanks, Simon! Any remaining mistakes are of course entirely my own.
I would also like to mention re-enactment societies in general. Groups such as the English Civil War Society and the Sealed Knot campaign tirelessly, sharing their passions with the general public at events up and down the land. I don’t think I’m overstating it when I say that these men and women provide an essential public service by educating, entertaining and bringing the past back to life in all its noise and glory. If you get the chance this year, do yourself a favour and go along to a re-enactment event. I promise that you’ll come away with a whole new level of understanding as to how our ancestors lived and died.
As ever, I would be floundering without the support of my inspirational wife, Sally, and the love of my little girl, Freyja. Thank you both, you are wondrous beings.
Finally, I want to thank you for reading this novel, for galloping into the fray with me. I have said it before but without your imagination this book is just so much printed paper. I’m enormously grateful that you choose to immerse yourself in my tales. If you have any comments or questions about my books, stop by my website www.gileskristian.com or my Facebook group, which is often buzzing with banter. You can find me on Twitter too: @gileskristian.
So, until next time, keep your powder dry. We’ll be marching together again before long, you and I.
Giles Kristian
Thurcaston
February 2012
About the Author
Family history and his storytelling hero, Bernard Cornwell, inspired Giles Kristian to write his first action-packed Viking series. Raven: Blood Eye was published to great acclaim. Two further highly praised novels, Sons of Thunder and Oðin’s Wolves, complete the bestselling trilogy.
Giles has long been fascinated by the English Civil War – from absorbing the vibrant illustrations in school text books to appreciating the cold efficiency of Cromwell’s New Model Army, admiring the flair of the Cavaliers and revelling in the romance of the doomed Royalist cause – and it is this complex and brutal conflict that provides the backcloth to his new historical series, The Bleeding Land.
He lives in Leicestershire, a county that was wrenched apart during the Civil War. To find out more, visit www.gileskristian.com
Also by Giles Kristian
Raven: Blood Eye
Sons of Thunder
Oðin’s Wolves
For more information on Giles Kristian and his books, see his website at www.gileskristian.com
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First published in Great Britain
in 2012 by Bantam Press
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Copyright © Giles Kristian 2012
Giles Kristian has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.
This book is a work of fiction and, except in the case of historical fact, any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
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The Bleeding Land Page 41