Act of Oblivion: The Sunday Times Bestseller

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This book is a sweeping saga set in the 1600s about the hunt for two (real) men, William Goffe and Edward Whalley, who signed the death warrant of Charles I, and their life in hiding in America. Richard Nayler is the fictional hunter of the “regicides.” The hunt begins in 1660 upon restoration of Charles II, son of Charles I, to the throne of England after the ousting and death of Oliver Cromwell. The titular Act of Oblivion pardoned the past treasons committed against the Crown, with the exception of the regicides. The two fugitives are related by marriage – Whalley is the father-in-law of Goffe. Whalley is also cousin to Oliver Cromwell. The families are the two men also feature in the narrative. Put this on your list of books to curl up with on a dreary winter's day. There is something deeply comforting about historical fiction, particularly one so rich in detail and intelligent in design. The slow burning plot weaves the thrill of the chase with a precise rendering of colonial America and royalist Britain. My knowledge of 17th century English history doesn't go much beyond the basics. Before reading this book I was unaware of the scope of the hunt for the "regicides", the men who were responsible for the beheading of Charles I as part of Cromwell's rise to power. Edward Whalley and his son-in-law William Goffe, officers in Cromwell's army, escaped from England to America, thus avoiding the ominous fate that awaited those who were captured in England or on the continent. Act of Oblivion: A Novel is a fictionalization of their lives, and those around them, after they landed in Boston. 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. 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.

Act of Oblivion by Robert Harris - BookBrowse Reviews of Act of Oblivion by Robert Harris - BookBrowse

As the German poet and philosopher Novalis remarked more than two centuries ago, novels arise out of the shortcomings of history. Harris sets out to plug the gaps in the record, and succeeds remarkably well. He’s writing fiction, but he treats the few available facts and the more plausible theories with respect, and skilfully extrapolates from them. Harris's cleverness, judgment and eye for detail are second to none Dominic Sandbrook, Sunday Times An absolutely stunning historical novel and a ripping crime thriller at the same time. I've been recommending it far and wide and buying it for people for Christmas! Dead Good II, доволен се завръща на трона в Лондон. Цената е Законът за Забравата, даващ амнистия на републиканците. Но не и на 59-те подписали смъртната присъда на Чарлз I. I loved Act of Oblivion by Robert Harris, which achieves the astonishing feat of taking 17th-century events and people and telling their stories in 21st-century language without a single seam showing Ben Macintyre, The Times

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But the over-rating here! This is a favorite author for sure, mine too- but length, breadth, and continuity here? Way below par for Robert Harris. Below par for the complexity and length of copy too. My bar is high for the author of Munich, for all of those top notch Roman series based books etc. This one does not begin to rise to the midst of their quality. 2.5 stars and I cannot round it up.

Act of Oblivion by Robert Harris - Penguin Books Australia Act of Oblivion by Robert Harris - Penguin Books Australia

The joy is in the vivid re-creation of 17th Century England and America and in the sly parallels with today that Harris teases out Mail on Sunday 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. The book excels in its stunning recreation of the landscape of America... Harris proves himself to be masterful at this and it gives the book a vibrant memorability New Statesman Every quarry needs a hunter. Harris counterbalances Whalley and Goffe with Richard Nayler, the fictional secretary to the regicide committee of the privy council, who has a powerful personal reason to want them dead. Meanwhile in London, Frances, Goffe’s devoted wife and Whalley’s daughter, provides another viewpoint. The novel’s narrative structure moves to and fro between them, ultimately leading to a brisk if slightly implausible conclusion.

The stuff about the new settlements in America was the most interesting part for me, although Harris dragged it out for far too long. He assumes people will know the basic history of Cromwell and the Restoration, and puts no political element into the plot. I felt that more concentration on the Restoration and less on these two runaways would have given scope for more interest. There’s only so much you can say about two men hiding in a barn, or a cellar, or an attic, or even the wilderness.

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

This is a novel that asks big historical questions. You could read it as a pure thriller, and it is one of Harris's most compellingly paced to date. You could read it as a piece of intelligent historical immersion. I think it is more; I think it is his best novel since Fatherland. Sunday Times Act Of Oblivion offers a resonant history of both England and America as they struggle to forge a myth of nationhood out of opposing ideologies Daily Mail 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 Whalley is the only reflective character, confronting the possibility (in the memoir, though not to others) that perhaps God had not been on the side of the Parliamentarians. Goffe and Nayler remain rigid in their views to the end, starkly representing the opposing sides.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. . . . It’s not clear who we’re meant to be rooting for but, because Nayler, Goffe and Whalley are such meh characters, I didn’t feel strongly one way or the other whether the Regicides escaped or whether Nayler caught up to them. It’s that uninvolving a narrative.

Act of Oblivion by Robert Harris review – regicides on the Act of Oblivion by Robert Harris review – regicides on the

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. Colonel Edward Whalley and his son-in-law, Colonel William Goffe, cross the Atlantic. They are on the run and wanted for the murder of Charles I. Under the provisions of the Act of Oblivion, they have been found guilty in absentia of high treason. 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. This was a very turbulent time in history, dominated as it was by religion and politics, vile atrocities on both sides, and Harris’s research brings it very much to life. This is a master storyteller at work. An exceptional, exciting, and suspenseful chase, a magnificent piece of historical fiction, very difficult to put down, and in my humble opinion, an absolute must read. He took a while to reply. By the time he spoke the men had gone inside. He said quietly, “They killed the King.”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. All of the characters in the book were real people with one exception: Richard Nayler, the chief regicide hunter. Harris has filled in gaps in what we know of the personalities of the principals and the events of their lives from 1660 onward. The execution of the king was the defining event of this struggle. Harris chooses to focus instead on the lives in exile of two of the regicides, Goffe and Edward Whalley. In 1660, they fled to America, where many of the colonists were Puritans with no love for the king. Both men were distinguished soldiers. Whalley was Oliver Cromwell’s cousin, a trusted member of the Lord Protector’s inner circle, and Goffe was Whalley’s son-in-law. We know tantalisingly little about their lives in America. They lived in hiding, in constant fear of arrest by the royalist agents who were searching for them. Part of the novel is written from the perspective of Nayler and part from the points of view of Ned Whalley and Will Goffe. This means that the reader knows from the beginning exactly where Ned and Will have gone – they have crossed the Atlantic to America, to build new lives for themselves in the like-minded Puritan colonies of Massachusetts and Connecticut. When Nayler arrives in pursuit, however, the two regicides are forced to move from one hiding place to another, never able to relax, knowing that they could be betrayed by anyone at any time. In this tense and beautifully written account of the ensuing manhunt, Harris brings sympathy to characters on either side of the civil war that divided a nation. Daily Mail