The Siege of Loyalty House

**A TIMES, SUNDAY TIMES, GUARDIAN, TELEGRAPH, SPECTATOR, THE CRITIC, MAIL ON SUNDAY, ECONOMIST AND PROSPECT BOOK OF THE YEAR**

'A gifted narrative historian, eloquent, graceful and witty; the stories she tells are the ones we all should know' Hilary Mantel

It was a time of climate change and colonialism, puritans and populism, witch hunts and war . . .

Drawing on unpublished manuscripts and the voices of countless victims of the crossfire, Jessie Childs weaves a thrilling tale of war and peace, terror and faith, savagery and civilisation. Throughout, we follow artists, apothecaries, merchants and their families from the streets of London as they descend on the royalist stronghold of Basing House.

The Siege of Loyalty House is an immersive and electrifying account of a defining episode in a war that would turn Britain - and the world - upside down.

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'Extraordinary, thrilling, immersive ... at times almost Tolstoyan in its emotional intelligence and literary power' Simon Schama

'Compellingly readable... [a] beautifully written and lucid account' Mail on Sunday

'Brilliant. Original. Gripping.' Antonia Fraser

'Beautifully written and gripping from first page to last. A sparkling book by one of the UK's finest historians' Peter Frankopan

'The Siege of Loyalty House is not only deeply researched. Childs has composed a wonderfully poetic narrative and adds a touch of the gothic' The Times

'Successfully brings the ghastliness of the period to life, dramatically, vividly and with pathos' Charles Spencer, Spectator