Why I Read This Book
I’m a big fan of historical
novels, and this historical novel was covering a period of history I was
particularly interested in: The English Civil War, and the Leveller movement.
The Review
Historical fiction comes in all
shapes and sizes. Some books are more
fiction than historical, and some are more historical than fiction.
Most
historical fiction will try and integrate the history into the narrative, but
Lindsey Davis does not feel constrained by this restriction. Large sections of this book will be straight
history, where Davis
will completely forget about her fictional main characters and go off for
several pages explaining the larger historical events that were happening at
the time.
It’s almost
as if someone cut up a history book and interspersed it into a novel.
Purists
will argue that this is not how historical fiction should be written—that the
author should avoid these large information dumps.
But there’s
no actual law against this, and as I read this book I thought, “Well, why not
write a book like this?” If the reader
enjoys following these historical digressions as much as the author does, and
if the reader and the author are both consenting adults, then why not?
And in
fact, it would be hard to imagine a novel of the English Civil War going any
other way. The English Civil War went
through so many phases, and involved so many diverse characters, that it would
be hard to invent any one narrative that could encompass all of this
diversity. The major figures at the
beginning of the war were completely different than the major figures at the
end. (For example, Oliver Cromwell
emerged as the head of the Puritan side at the end of the war, but, as Lindsey
Davis does a good job of illustrating, he was a complete unknown at the
beginning of the war. Any novel that
concentrated on Cromwell’s narrative would have had a hard time integrating all
the major events in the early days of the Civil War, and a novel that
concentrated on the heroes of the early days, like John Pym, would have the
same problem in reverse.)
It goes
without saying then that the ideal reader of this book must share the author’s
love of history, and anyone who doesn’t want to get bogged down in too much
historical detail should stay well away from this book. But if you like history, you’ll find this an
enjoyable read.
I
appreciated having the fictional elements in the book because it gives a sense
of a single story that helps to tie the various elements together. But I almost enjoyed the historical sections
of this book more than the fictional sections.
When she turns her eye to history, Lindsey Davis can write very
well. No doubt her training as a
novelist helps her write very readable history.
The value
of this book is increased when one considers how few readable histories there
are on the English Civil War --at least in my experience I’ve had trouble
tracking down good books on the period.
(If someone knows of any good books out there, let me know.)
When I was
last in a university library, for example, I found that there were lots of
books on the Levellers (W) and the Leveller movement, but almost all
of them written in dry academic tones.
Thomas
Rainborough (W), for example, is one of the more fascinating
figures of the time, but I had trouble finding a readable biography. The books that I could find on him were so
boring that I couldn’t finish them.
Lindsey
Davis, by contrast, does a very good job of integrating the personal histories
of all the major Leveller figures into her book. The rise of Thomas Rainborough
as an important figure in the Leveller movement, and the circumstances
surrounding his assassination, are all nicely laid out in this book. Likewise with the other Leveller figures—John
Lilburne (W), Richard Overton (W), and Edward Sexby
(W)—whose stories are all integrated into this novel.
Besides the
Levellers, Lindsey Davis also includes the other political and religious
radical groups of the time, and does a good job of integrating these movements
into her narrative. The Diggers (W), the Ranters (W), and the Fifth Monarchists (W)
all come to the forefront at one time or another in the book’s narrative.
The book
isn’t perfect by any means. During the
course of its 742 pages, there are all sorts of plot threads that either don’t
go anywhere or don’t pay off as well as they should. And the central romance which makes up the
backbone of the plot I found a bit contrived.
Fortunately,
for those of us who have a low tolerance for sappy romances, the lovers don’t
actually meet until the last 200 pages into the book, so we only have to endure
it for a short time. But I still felt
like the main character Gideon fell in love for absolutely no reason, and in a
way that was completely uncharacteristic for him. Everything we knew about the character seemed
to indicate he was reserved in speech and cautious in love. Then,
for no reason whatsoever, he suddenly becomes smitten with the heroine of the
novel, abandons caution and reserve, and starts sending her long gushing
rambling letters.
But despite
its flaws, the book is good enough. If
you like history, and you like a little bit of fiction mixed in, it’s well
worth the read.
Other Notes
One of the
many interesting little historical details I learned from this book is the mock
epic poem Hudibras (W) by
Samuel Butler. (Samuel Butler himself is
one of the many historical characters who makes an appearance in this book.) On
page 244 Lindsey Davis quotes the opening lines to Hudibras.
When civil dudgeon first grew high,
And men fell out they knew not why?
When hard words, jealousies and
fears,
Set folks together by the ears
And made them fight, like mad or
drunk,
For Dame Religion, as for punk,
Whose honesty they all durst swear
for,
Though not a man of them knew
wherefore,
When Gospel-Trumpeter, surrounded,
With long-ear’d rout, to battle sounded,
And pulpit, drum, ecclesiastick,
Was beat with fist, instead of
stick;
Then did Sir Knight abandon dwelling,
And out he rode a-colonelling….
I really
like those lines, because I think it captures very well the religious confusion
of the age, and also infuses the whole English Civil War with an old epic
mystical poetic feeling. (I haven’t read
the rest of Hudibras, and maybe I
never will, but I really like those opening lines.)
Connections With Other
Books I’ve Been Reading
I first
heard of the Leveller movement from Chris Harman’s A People’s History of the World. (Harman gives a
Marxist economic interpretation of the English Civil War, as opposed to the
more religious interpretation emphasized in the above poem Hudibras. I think both
interpretations are possible.)
David
Starkey gives a very readable account of the main events of the Civil War in Monarchy.
As always
when comparing two different authors on the same historical event, it’s
interesting to see their different interpretations. Lindsey Davis thinks Oliver Cromwell’s main motivation for dismissing
Parliament was Parliament’s undemocratic intention to bypass elections and
legislate themselves as members in perpetuity.
David Starkey thinks Oliver Cromwell was primarily motivated by
Parliament’s plan to revoke his position as general of the New Model Army.
Free Born John by Pauline Gregg gives one of the few readable accounts I could find of John
Lilburne and the Leveller movement.
And The Butterfly in Amber is
another book of historical fiction dealing with England
during the Puritan
Commonwealth
Other Links
* If you
like mixing your history lessons with Irish folk rock (and why not?) then A Curse Upon You Oliver Cromwell by the
Pogues is a fun listen [LINK HERE]. (Cromwell’s invasion of Ireland is covered in Lindsey Davis’s
book.)
* I also really
enjoyed Mark Steel’s historical lecture series, and his program on
Oliver Cromwell is worth watching [LINK HERE].
* If you
can track down a copy, the four part BBC series The Devil’s Whore (W) also does a good job of introducing
the main figures in the Leveller and Digger movement. [YOUTUBE COPY HERE]
***************************************************************************
In the
interview accompanying the audio book of Monarchy,
David Starkey once said, “People often forget that it was the English, not the
French or the Americans, who first abolished the institution of monarchy and
established a republic” (quoting from memory—not verbatim).
Indeed,
people do often forget this. Myself personally, I once stood in front of a class full of Japanese school children,and told them that the 4th of July was an important date because it was the anniversary of first republic established since classical Roman times.
This was
completely wrong. It ignores the Dutch Republics England was a republic for a short
time in the 17th century.)
I blame my
previous ignorance on the American educational system.
Speaking of
which, another thing that often gets completely left out of the history books
is that the English Civil War had an affect on the American colonies when the
Royalist/Puritan fighting carried over to the British colonial
possessions. See Wikipedia article on
the English Civil War in America
here [W].
I’m not
sure why this is left out of the American history textbooks. Perhaps because of the American habit of
writing history as if history didn’t begin until 1776. Or perhaps it is because American history
textbooks often act as if we exist in isolation from the rest of the world.
But in my fantasy radio program about American history, I would be sure to
include colonial history as well.
To me, one
of the more interesting facts is that one-sixth of the Puritans in Massachusetts actually returned to England to fight for the Puritan
cause in the Civil War. (In fact Thomas
Rainborough’s family had Massachusetts
connections, something Lindsey Davis mentions in her book.)
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