Do I have say more than this is read by Robert Glenister? Oh, okay. Sutcliff's young adult/child version of Troy is actually a pretty good combination of the various Troy cycles, though she does not go into the evens after the Fall of Troy. It's actually quite good.

I seem to have been reading this forever. I kept having to break off to read my library books that had become available. But I've finally got to the end, and very satisfying it was too. 

Another reason it took me ages to read is because I kept stopping to consult my history books or check out a map.  A house I used to live in was built on the site of one of the key battles, so it's always been very interesting to me. 

It would be wrong to categorise this book as a 'romance'. For a lot of the time Anne and Thomas are apart, and when they do get together, there are no rippling muscles, heaving bosoms, and all the other staples of your typical bodice ripper. Theirs is a steady love, made more poignant because they are surrounded by war.

This is not a 'shirtless dude' meets 'headless woman' historical, but if you're interested in this period of English history, and want to know a bit more, then I can recommend it. 

Finally! It’s 1644 and we’ve got to the Battle of Marston Moor, which was a crucial battle in the English Civil War. It cemented Oliver Cromwell’s reputation as a cavalry commander and leader, and it pretty much meant the Royalists lost the North. Seriously, we northerners are chippy buggers and have always disliked being told what to do by upstart royalty. The battle of Hastings in 1066 might have gone very differently if Harold hadn’t first had to go to Stamford Bridge near York to put down a Northern uprising.

I’m really enjoying this book. It spends a lot of time on political machinations and battle strategy (I have a map and Wikipedia to hand so I can keep up with who’s who). But it’s also a love story. The relationship between Thomas and Anne Fairfax started as a marriage of convenience, but slowly became a love match between two rather undemonstrative people. And there’s a ginger cat. All books are better with ginger cats.

The Battle of Marston Moor by J Barker

"By whatever name you choose to call the present conflict, the fact, the hideous and tragic fact, remains that this is civil war; a subtly but undeniably different matter from rebellion."

If you want endless descriptions of fashions, and ladies simpering behind their fans at young bucks and rakes, then this is not the book for you. Anne Fairfax was not the kind of woman to stay at home while her husband was on campaign. She went with him and suffered just as much hardship as the soldiers who fought for him. 

And here's my handy map which has made it much easier to keep track of what's going on. 

Looking at my bookshelves, it's quite obvious which period of English history has held the most fascination for me. Novels and biographies about the Plantagenets, Tudors, and the Wars of the Roses are everywhere. But apart from a few key battles, Oliver Cromwell and his New Model Army, and the Roundheads and Royalists - 'right but repulsive and wrong but wromantic'*, my knowledge of the English Civil War is a bit more sketchy.

So I'm really enjoying learning a bit more the events which took place pretty much on my doorstep. I'm actually sitting with a map next to me so I can follow the journeys taken by Anne and Thomas Fairfax. And because the street names haven't changed in 380 years, I know exactly where the fighting happened. Streets where I used to spend a leisurely Saturday afternoon shopping with my girlfriends, once ran red with blood. 

* If you haven't read 1066 And All That, you should. Extremely funny, but for god's sake don't use it as a source if you're taking an exam in English History.