London: The Novel
Edward Rutherfurd
Language: English
Pages: 1152
ISBN: 0345455681
Format: PDF / Kindle (mobi) / ePub
“A TOUR DE FORCE . . . LONDON TRACKS THE HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH CAPITAL FROM THE DAYS OF THE CELTS UNTIL THE PRESENT TIME. . . . BREATHTAKING.”
—The Orlando Sentinel
Now in a handsome new trade paperback edition, here is Edward Rutherfurd’s classic novel of London, a glorious pageant spanning two thousand years. He brings this vibrant city’s long and noble history alive through the ever-shifting fortunes, fates, and intrigues of half-a-dozen families, from the age of Julius Caesar to the twentieth century. Generation after generation, these families embody the passion, struggle, wealth, and verve of the greatest city in the world.
“REMARKABLE . . . The invasion by Julius Caesar’s legions in 54 B.C. . . . The rise of chivalry and the Crusades . . . The building of the Globe theatre . . . and the coming of the Industrial Revolution. . . . What a delightful way to get the feel of London and of English history. . . . We witness first-hand the lust of Henry VIII. We overhear Geoffrey Chaucer deciding to write The Canterbury Tales. . . . Each episode is a punchy tale made up of bite-size chunks ending in tiny cliffhangers.”
—The New York Times
Time's Divide (The Chronos Files, Book 3)
The Morning Star (The Katerina Trilogy, Book 3)
By the Shores of Silver Lake (Little House, Book 5)
been ignored. Instead, as he instinctively pressed himself against the grey, Norman stone, he heard a harsh voice call out in French: “Bring me that man.” King Henry did not like people hiding from him. A moment later, they were face to face. Though he worked in Westminster Palace, Silversleeves had never seen King Henry close before. This was not surprising. His northern kingdom occupied only part of Henry Plantagenet’s time, and even when he was on the island he was constantly travelling from
man’s father was Simon the armourer, a respected citizen” – he gave the Exchequer clerk a stern look – “with whom, as I recall, Silversleeves had a quarrel. If Ducket is Simon’s son, then he’s a citizen by right, and that’s that.” There were looks of relief. Nobody liked this case. But Silversleeves was not a royal clerk for nothing. “If Simon was a citizen,” he said, “he probably shouldn’t have been. But either way it’s irrelevant. Because, Mayor and Alderman of the city, Adam Ducket holds his
affairs, of the rapidly deteriorating health of the old king, of things she would know about, asked her opinion and seemed to value it. She felt flattered and grown-up. She decided, looking at him, that, if his nose was long, it gave him a certain solemn distinction; his dark eyes were intelligent, if a little mysterious. His tunic and hose were black and of the very best Flemish cloth. She did not quite know if she liked him, but she had to admit that his manner, if a little formal, was
more. He was whistling cheerfully, therefore, as he approached the pillar with its seven clock faces and noticed the little bundle. It had been placed just inside the railings that ran round the pillar, and it was crying. Henry had sighed. There was nothing surprising about a little bundle like this, but he always hated to see them. He didn’t even blame the mothers who abandoned them. Unwanted children were an occupational hazard in a place like Seven Dials, and what was an unmarried girl to
enough, contained a place that was cold. He had just come to the corner of Piccadilly when the three men stepped out of the shadows and seized him. Two took his arms from behind; the other stood in front of him. “Captain Meredith? You are arrested, sir. For debt.” The door opened slowly. Lady St James felt a little tremble pass through her body. At last. He had come. It was already half-past eight and once or twice in the last half-hour she had even feared that he might have changed his mind.