Act of Oblivion: The Sunday Times Bestseller

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Wow, this guy knows how to tell a story! Robert Harris is a master of his craft whatever genre he writes about. This is a wonderful story in the style of "The Fugitive" with a relentless pursuer determined to get his men. a decisive moment happens in the English Civil War with the execution of King Charles I. 1660, Oliver Cromwell is dead having won the war but his short-lived Republic is over and the Restoration of the Monarchy has happened with Charles II installed as King of Britland. Parliament passes an “Act of Oblivion” which pardons everyone who committed crimes during the Civil War and subsequent Commonwealth period - except for 59 “Regicides” who signed their names on the King’s death warrant. 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

In London, Richard Nayler, secretary of the regicide committee of the Privy Council, is charged with bringing the traitors to justice and he will stop at nothing to find them. A substantial bounty hangs over their heads for their capture—dead or alive. . . . 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.England. General Edward Whalley and his son-in law Colonel William Goffe board a ship bound for the New World. They are on the run, wanted for the murder of King Charles I—a brazen execution that marked the culmination of the English Civil War, in which parliamentarians successfully battled royalists for control.

Act of Oblivion - Penguin Books UK

I почти никак не бяха засегнати, а малкото препратки бяха с размера и с вълнуващия стил на бележка под линия. 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. In London, Richard Nayler, secretary of the regicide committee of the Privy Council, is charged with bringing the traitors to justice and he will stop at nothing to find them. A substantial bounty hangs over their heads for their capture—dead or alive...

Over half the Regicides have since died but, of the remaining survivors, two names are highest on the most wanted list: Edward Whalley and William Goffe, who are suspected to have fled to the New England colonies across the Atlantic. Richard Nayler is appointed by the Crown to hunt down these men and bring them the King’s justice. And so the chase begins - will Whalley and Goffe get away with it? In the most part, Act of Oblivion features real characters and real events, with lots of fun to be had in the fiction Harris weaves into the gaps. If, like me, you come to Act of Oblivion with no knowledge of what happened to Whalley and Goffe (both real people), then I would strongly advise against looking up the details until you’ve finished reading. It’s better not to know and be kept in suspense wondering whether or not they’ll be caught. However, the book wasn’t quite as exciting as I’d expected based on others I’ve read by Robert Harris; although some of the ‘chase’ sections are very gripping, a lot of time is also spent on a memoir Whalley has been writing about the events of the Civil War and his relationship with Oliver Cromwell, and I felt that this slowed the pace down a lot.

Act of Oblivion: Robert Harris - AbeBooks Act of Oblivion: Robert Harris - AbeBooks

Harris, deft as ever, weaves a hefty amount of historical fact into the narrative, politics, religion, colonial life, family ties - as well as themes of forgiveness and reconciliation. Underneath it all though is the remorseless and building propulsion of hunter and prey New Statesman Harris displays an impressive grasp of the historical context without taxing his readers by showing his 'workings'. Church Times

Act of Oblivion' (2022) is Robert Harris' latest offering and this time around, Harris novel is set around the period - post English civil war, subsequent interregnum and restoration of the monarchy.

Editions of Act of Oblivion by Robert Harris - Goodreads

Nayler is searching for them. A fictional character, created by Harris, he appears a less sympathetic person than Ned and Will, but reveals the other face of this civil war which had split the nation; a royalist supporter who had dipped his handkerchief in the king's blood and who always carried it with him. He took a while to reply. By the time he spoke the men had gone inside. He said quietly, “They killed the King.” 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 Express Act of Oblivion is an epic journey across continents, and a chase like no other. It is the thrilling new novel by Robert Harris. 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.

BookBrowse Review

America in the 1660s was sparsely settled. Two men on the run are housed initially by the Puritans (who sympathized with the anti-monarchists) but must flee when Nayler arrives in America to pursue them. The tale involves maritime travel from London to Massachusetts to the rugged terrain of the Connecticut wilderness. He took a while to reply. By the time he spoke the men had gone inside. He said quietly, 'They killed the King.' We have 6 read-alikes for Act of Oblivion, but non-members are limited to two results. To see the complete list of this book's read-alikes, you need to be a member.