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English Civil War #2
A Corruptible Crown: A seventeenth-century historical drama
The compelling sequel to the English Civil War novel London in Chains - It is 1648, and the Civil War has been resurrected by a king still determined to be an absolute ruler and a parliament unable to agree how to govern without him. Blacksmith Jamie Hudson, weary and disillusioned, is forced to re-enlist, leaving his wife Lucy to struggle on alone in London: printing newsbooks, dodging the censors, and all the while supporting the Leveller demands for democracy and freedom, and hoping for a peace that will finally allow the two of them to be together again.
301 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 21, 2011
4 people are currently reading
108 people want to read
About the author
Gillian Bradshaw
52 books325 followersBorn in Arlington, Virgina, Gillian Bradshaw grew up in Washington, Santiago, Chile and Michigan. She is a Classics graduate from Newnham College, Cambridge, and published her first novel, Hawk of May, just before her final term. A highly acclaimed historical novelist, Gillian Bradshaw has won the Hopwood Award for Fiction, among other prizes. She lives in Cambridge with her husband and their four children.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
January 20, 2021
I enjoyed this book just as much as I enjoyed the first book in this series. In fact, the book in many ways feels more a continuation of the last one than a sequel. We pick up right where we left off: Lucy is still working on unlicensed presses and Jamie's off to war as a blacksmith. Neither of them have really gotten a break to work out how their relationship will work and both are still isolated from their families.
The one new element of this story is that this is no longer solely Lucy's story. Half the book is her POV and the other half is Jamie's. This is a nicely equal division of labor which makes a virtue of predictability - when a chapter ends on a cliffhanger we never worry about how long it will take us to find the answer. Jamie also proves to be an interesting voice. Much of this book is concerned with his family and his return to grace so his viewpoint is a necessary part of that. Jamie also brings us closer to the frontlines of the war and we get to see a bit of old Ironsides and Ireton as well as the siege of Colchester. Battlescenes are not a focus of this book, but we do get that old military fiction trope of an evil staff officer with a vendetta against our lead. It works pretty well and provides conflict for both Lucy and Jamie.
As to the rest of the plot, it is very much like the last one except for the tone. In the last book the characters were filled with optimism that everything would work out alright and their political beliefs would spread to make England a better place for everyone to live. By this point that seems naive. The second civil war has broken out and the Levellers can feel the wheels of history moving against them. Where Lucy was willing to make many sacrifices for the Cause in the last book, now she's more concerned with survival and staying out of jail. It's not a dramatic shift, but it does acknowledge that the civil war has taken an even darker turn. We cut out right before Parliament puts the king on trial (the title comes from something Charles said after he heard he'd been sentenced to death) so the big dramatic moment I was expecting to witness oddly never happens.
Some people may be annoyed at that, but really this book is about the characters and their private struggles. I found myself very worried about how things would turn out for them (this is after all a book about civil war, which rarely manages to avoid tragedy) and that was enough for me. The political stuff is more of a sideshow this time and while warfare takes a more central role it remains important solely for where it places Jamie.
I really liked this book. It captures a real feel for the times and focuses on social and class conflicts. I love seeing how people really lived in the past and this book captures that in spades. This book does require reading the previous one. I wouldn't recommend reading it on its own. But that's hardly a criticism when the first book was so good too.
The one new element of this story is that this is no longer solely Lucy's story. Half the book is her POV and the other half is Jamie's. This is a nicely equal division of labor which makes a virtue of predictability - when a chapter ends on a cliffhanger we never worry about how long it will take us to find the answer. Jamie also proves to be an interesting voice. Much of this book is concerned with his family and his return to grace so his viewpoint is a necessary part of that. Jamie also brings us closer to the frontlines of the war and we get to see a bit of old Ironsides and Ireton as well as the siege of Colchester. Battlescenes are not a focus of this book, but we do get that old military fiction trope of an evil staff officer with a vendetta against our lead. It works pretty well and provides conflict for both Lucy and Jamie.
As to the rest of the plot, it is very much like the last one except for the tone. In the last book the characters were filled with optimism that everything would work out alright and their political beliefs would spread to make England a better place for everyone to live. By this point that seems naive. The second civil war has broken out and the Levellers can feel the wheels of history moving against them. Where Lucy was willing to make many sacrifices for the Cause in the last book, now she's more concerned with survival and staying out of jail. It's not a dramatic shift, but it does acknowledge that the civil war has taken an even darker turn. We cut out right before Parliament puts the king on trial (the title comes from something Charles said after he heard he'd been sentenced to death) so the big dramatic moment I was expecting to witness oddly never happens.
Some people may be annoyed at that, but really this book is about the characters and their private struggles. I found myself very worried about how things would turn out for them (this is after all a book about civil war, which rarely manages to avoid tragedy) and that was enough for me. The political stuff is more of a sideshow this time and while warfare takes a more central role it remains important solely for where it places Jamie.
I really liked this book. It captures a real feel for the times and focuses on social and class conflicts. I love seeing how people really lived in the past and this book captures that in spades. This book does require reading the previous one. I wouldn't recommend reading it on its own. But that's hardly a criticism when the first book was so good too.
August 9, 2025
This book picks up right after London in Chains and adds Jamie's viewpoint to Lucy's. In some ways this is just as immersive as the first book, but there is less room for hope and optimism for the levellers and there are some grim moments. I still liked the way this portrayed how people living in the midst of these social and political upheavals might have experienced the events, keeping in mind that it's very much a story told from a specific vantage and definitely not unbiased.
September 13, 2011
Warning: This review contains spoilers for London in Chains. Actually, this book is best enjoyed if you have already read the first one.
This books opens with our hero and heroine, newly married and already separated by the English Civil Wars. Lucy is in London, pursuing her career as a printer and Jamie is with the Army(very reluctantly)as a blacksmith. So the chapters alternate between Lucy and Jaime and how they are faring. And the answer is that they are doing just okay. Lucy's current employer is a lecherous fellow who doesn't believe she is really married. And he runs an illegal press. However, he is paying Lucy quite well, so she tolerates it so that she can save up for her own press. Jamie is with the Army, besieging Colchester. He's wet and tired and hungry, etc, etc. And he's made an enemy of Isaiah Barker, who is tenacious in his desire to harm Jamie--even to the point of harming Lucy.
Jamie and Lucy have very few scenes together, but the ones do they do share are wonderful, because we already know a lot of how they feel about each other. But when they are apart and relying on letters, the doubts set in. Lucy's doubts about her marriage ring true, as does Jamie's increasing fatigue and desire to just go home.
It was nice to see more of the various printers from the London in Chains. It was also good to finally spend some time with Jamie's family. However, I really missed the excerpts from the newsbooks that prefaced the chapters in the first book.
I also appreciated the author's Afterward, that let us know what happened to some of the real people featured in the books.
This books opens with our hero and heroine, newly married and already separated by the English Civil Wars. Lucy is in London, pursuing her career as a printer and Jamie is with the Army(very reluctantly)as a blacksmith. So the chapters alternate between Lucy and Jaime and how they are faring. And the answer is that they are doing just okay. Lucy's current employer is a lecherous fellow who doesn't believe she is really married. And he runs an illegal press. However, he is paying Lucy quite well, so she tolerates it so that she can save up for her own press. Jamie is with the Army, besieging Colchester. He's wet and tired and hungry, etc, etc. And he's made an enemy of Isaiah Barker, who is tenacious in his desire to harm Jamie--even to the point of harming Lucy.
Jamie and Lucy have very few scenes together, but the ones do they do share are wonderful, because we already know a lot of how they feel about each other. But when they are apart and relying on letters, the doubts set in. Lucy's doubts about her marriage ring true, as does Jamie's increasing fatigue and desire to just go home.
It was nice to see more of the various printers from the London in Chains. It was also good to finally spend some time with Jamie's family. However, I really missed the excerpts from the newsbooks that prefaced the chapters in the first book.
I also appreciated the author's Afterward, that let us know what happened to some of the real people featured in the books.
October 29, 2011
A Corruptible Crown is Bradshaw's sequel to London in Chains. It is the first time I have seen her write a sequel to her historical fiction and it continues to be an interesting story. However, she doesn't give concessions to any readers picking up in the middle of the series, so you might be lost if you don't read London in Chains first.
In A Corruptible Crown, Bradshaw's characters are caught in the middle of England's Civil War between Parliament and the crown. The amazing thing about Bradshaw's writing is she makes the complicated politics between Cromwell, Parliament, and King Charles interesting and almost understandable. She points out in her afterword that her telling favors the Leveller faction which, as a lover of democracy, I can naturally support. The action level in this series isn't high, but it is an interesting insight into British history with the usual lovable characters.
In A Corruptible Crown, Bradshaw's characters are caught in the middle of England's Civil War between Parliament and the crown. The amazing thing about Bradshaw's writing is she makes the complicated politics between Cromwell, Parliament, and King Charles interesting and almost understandable. She points out in her afterword that her telling favors the Leveller faction which, as a lover of democracy, I can naturally support. The action level in this series isn't high, but it is an interesting insight into British history with the usual lovable characters.
July 17, 2013
I was delighted to read this second of Gillian Bradshaw's English Civil War novels. She is one of my favorite authors and I enjoy her stories of regular folks caught up in larger events--whether the stories are set in Roman Britain, Constantinople, or wherever! It had been awhile since I'd read the first book in this set, but I loved the continued story, and the well-developed sense of the times and place throughout the novel. Lucy is an unconventional heroine and one I very much enjoyed getting to know.
June 18, 2024
In this sequel to "London in Chains", after marrying at the end of the previous book, our protagonist is left in London trying to manage printing (and set up her own press), while her husband has been conscripted into the army despite being more and more downcast about any chances of actually bringing liberty. Meanwhile, their marriage grows problems from her sense of independence and everyone else's sense of gender norms. And as their cause is falling to a Cromwellian dictatorship, how can they keep striving?
I did like this book, in a different way from the previous book. It's less of an organized plot, but more of a window into the era. A tinted window, as Bradshaw acknowledges in the afterword, but that's somewhat inevitable for a book - and this's a very understandable and sympathetic tint.
I just recommended this duet to my relatives as one of Bradshaw's best.
I did like this book, in a different way from the previous book. It's less of an organized plot, but more of a window into the era. A tinted window, as Bradshaw acknowledges in the afterword, but that's somewhat inevitable for a book - and this's a very understandable and sympathetic tint.
I just recommended this duet to my relatives as one of Bradshaw's best.
March 9, 2020
Good, smooth read. I appreciated the depiction of hard choices of beliefs and family and that no side was good or evil, but just flawed. I had a bit of trouble with terms since this is not a period I'm familiar with (what side is the "loyal" fleet on, for example?). I was glad to find that my favorite two characters were both real people, though I can't say if they had the personalities of their book versions.
May 25, 2025
Not quite as immersive for me as the first one - I had trouble suspending my disbelief re: the plot in places - but still a fun, intense, and grabby read that stays hopeful in a context of great suffering.
CN: sexual violence, war violence, duelling, sexual harassment, severe illness and death.
CN: sexual violence, war violence, duelling, sexual harassment, severe illness and death.
May 12, 2017
Excellent story. It seemed like it would be hard to make a sequel as rich and entertaining as the first but this was.
January 2, 2018
Another top-notch historical from Gillian Bradshaw - hope she continues this series!
January 16, 2013
Written with natural familiarity of the character Lucy, a young independently minded working-class woman in a man's profession of printer.
Keeping occupied and safe from predatory men(and employers)whilst her new husband is stationed at the civil war front as a blacksmith with contact to more historical characters like General Rainsborough and General Ireton, even Cromwell.
I have a keen interest in this period so it was a nice read to balance with the dense non-fiction texts.
I could easily put down to get on with other things too...
Keeping occupied and safe from predatory men(and employers)whilst her new husband is stationed at the civil war front as a blacksmith with contact to more historical characters like General Rainsborough and General Ireton, even Cromwell.
I have a keen interest in this period so it was a nice read to balance with the dense non-fiction texts.
I could easily put down to get on with other things too...
May 31, 2015
Marvelous, although it would have been easier going if I had more of a sense of this part of history beforehand. Having only the thinnest of education in the area of the British civil war and its aftermath, I can't tell how much is Gillian and how much history. I'm not saying she got things wrong, just that the deeper themes of the freedom of the press, the role of women, and the levellers vs the royalists are thick in detail here and I was having to learn so much that relaxing into the flow of the fictional story was harder than expected.
April 30, 2012
Nice continuation to the previous book. Love the characters, love reading about a part of history I'm not familiar with. I'd like to continue to follow the characters. It just kind of ... ended.
February 27, 2013
Title is deceiving -- no king in sight!
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January 15, 2015Interesting historical read = believable characters and good ending
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews