Cavaliers and Roundheads face off and exchange cannon shot. Our viewpoint character is a Cavalier commander named Rupert.
"...as evening drew in, clouds massed blue-black across heaven. A wind hooted bleak beneath, snickering in the whins." (p. 1)
The weather comments, in particular an audible wind.
There have been three years of Civil War. Rupert remembers his losses at Aylesbury. He calls for prayers and the text is Joshua 22:22 - yet another Biblical quotation.
Thus, a good start to a Poul Anderson novel. So far, it could be a historical novel but that will change soon.
Spies have reported a Roundhead "...troop led by one Oliver Cromwell..." (p. 2)
Right now, people are reassessing statues all over Britain. Last night, a TV news report showed Nelson's Column and the statue of Cromwell. See Theory And Practice.
6 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
I think it was in this battle, in our timeline, that Cromwell began his rise to power, to becoming as Milton put it, "...our chief of men."
And are people still agitating about those statues of Cromwell? I know many Britons still so loath Cromwell that any memorials to him enrages many.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
There is much agitation about statues. There was a hilarious scene in Bristol. But I have not heard that Cromwell is high on the list right now.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
What statue is Bristol is making people look hilarious?
Well, it was statues of Cromwell I have heard of people getting agitated about.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
There is film on-line. In Bristol, protestors pulled down a statue of slave trader, Edward Colston, rolled it down the street and threw it in the harbor.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
Gotcha! Never heard of Colston before.
Ad astra! Sean
That's destruction of public property, and the police should have been there busting heads and arresting people. The State's monopoly of force cannot be legitimately be challenged; anyone who does so is a rebel against the State, and the traditional penalty for that is simply death.
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