Hull Pubs
Book
The port of Kingston-upon-Hull is one of England's most historical and diverse cities and boasts a...
A Skinful of Shadows
Book
Frances Hardinge weaves a dark, otherworldly tale in A Skinful of Shadows, her first book since the...
Fantasy fiction
Redemption (The Hacker Chronicles #2)
Book
Saturday, the second day of July, in the year of our Lord, 1644, will be a day long remembered by...
Historical Fiction English Civil War
Henrietta Maria
Book
At the heart of the English Civil War stands the wife of Charles I, Henrietta Maria. She came to...
David McK (3721 KP) rated Blood's Campaign in Books
Mar 5, 2020
Which is where I live (well, in Northern Ireland).
Living, as I do, not that far from Carrickfergus in Belfast I was aware of the siege of Carrickfergus, and (of course) of the Battle of the Boyne - it's impossible not to be, living here! With William's victory celebrated by a section of the community every 12th of July - although the subjects were never really taught at all in my school days; seemingly more concerned with the Norman conquest or with the English Civil War or World War 2 than with 'local' history. In retrospect, I think that might be because local history is (still) a touchy subject: what is one man's hero, for example, is another man's villain in this country!
Anyway, I've gone off topic: Blood's Campaign.
An interesting read, with Holcroft Blood still an unusual protagonist (hinted as being on the autistic spectrum?), with - even for someone born and raised in Northern Ireland - some fascinating history thrown in, although (I have to say), that this one didn't quite grip me as much as Angus Donald's 'Outlaw' (Robin Hood) series.
Representing War and Violence, 1250-1600
Joanna Bellis and Laura Slater
Book
War and violence took many forms in medieval and early modern Europe, from political and territorial...
Wars of the Roses: Stormbird
9.0
Rate It
Book
Historical fiction master Conn Iggulden retells the gripping story of the English Civil War in this...
Henry V
William Shakespeare, Michael Taylor and Ann Kaegi
10.0
Rate It
Book
Among the most well-loved of William Shakespeare's history plays, Henry V is the gripping conclusion...
An Elizabethan Assassin: Theodore Paleologus: Seducer, Spy and Killer
Book
In this first biography of Theodore Paleologus, new documentary evidence exposes him as a hardened...
David McK (3721 KP) rated The Savage Isle (Savage Isle Series book 1) in Books
Feb 22, 2026 - 2:04 PM
It's been a while since I last read any by the author - indeed, a while since (I believe) he has published any - the last I read being, I believe, "Marston Moor", so I was a bit unsure if I would read this one or not.
In the end, I'm glad I did.
This is, largely, a 'coming of age' tale that sheds some light on the pre-Roman Britain and the culture therein, which modern evidence has shown to be more sophisticated than originally thought (after all, "history is written by the victors" and all that), following the main character of Cullen as his tribe (the Atrebates) is first destroyed by the Catuvellauni, and then finding himself fighting for the very same against the Roman invaders.
I reckon I'll pick up the inevitable sequel.