Bell Harry

by Nicholas Best

For hundreds of years the secrets of the tower were concealed. Until now... In 1179, King Louis VII of France came to Canterbury to visit the shrine of St Thomas Becket. He brought a fabulous gift with A magnificent, blood-red ruby. For hundreds of years, the Régale de France held pride of place at Becket's tomb in the cathedral. Richard the Lionheart, Chaucer, Henry V and Richard III all admired the jewel as they prayed at the shrine. The ruby vanished during the reign of Henry VIII, but people kept coming to see the place where Becket was murdered. Over everyone's head loomed Bell Harry, the cathedral's three hundred feet tall tower. After a German bombing raid of 1 June 1942, the tower survived, but a Luftwaffe bomb revealed a hidden tunnel leading straight towards the cathedral. When three American soldiers decided to investigate, they had no idea what they would find...

204 pages, Paperback

Published September 28, 2020

About the author

Nicholas Best grew up in Kenya and was educated there, in England and at Trinity College, Dublin. He served in the Grenadier Guards and worked as a journalist in London before becoming a full time author.
His first novel ('As a satire on military bigotry and shambling officialdom, Where were you at Waterloo? is in places as sharp as Waugh and sometimes better' - Times Literary Supplement) was written at Harvard. His second, Tennis and the Masai ('The funniest book of the year - Daily Telegraph) was serialized on BBC Radio 4.
He has since written many other books, including Happy Valley: the Story of the English in Kenya, The Greatest Day in History, about the Armistice of 1918, and Five Days that shocked the World, about the end of the Second World War.
Best was the Financial Times's fiction critic for ten years. In 2010, he was long-listed for the Sunday Times-EFG Bank award of £30,000, the biggest short story prize in the world. He lives in Cambridge.
For more information, visit www.nicholasbest.co.uk

Reviews

[Michael Powell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Disappointing

Naive and inconsequential writing, I’m sorry to say. I was at King’s in the ‘60s and hoped for more. It didn’t even really have a satisfactory conclusion.
I hate to give a bad review because, as a writer, I know how it hurts after all the hard work, but perhaps what I say might be useful.
Most of the little vignettes serve no purpose at all. Some are quite irrelevant (like the Mozart story). The idea was interesting but I’m afraid the execution was lacking.
Sorry!

[Viragored · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book, a light and easy-to-read hop through some historical events. I was happy to be entertained, left wondering if any of the events actually happened, and with a fond memory of laughing out loud at the first mention of "Lady Hamilton's behind..."
If you're looking for actual history, this might not be the book for you. But as a fun read to entertain you it's worth a read.

[cheryl barras · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting way to read about history.

[bill lismore · Rating 4 out of 5]

Snippets from the last thousand years

The book leaves lots of questions to be answered, opening up endless books to be read. A simple idea with endless possibilities.

[Ana Rodriguez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pleasant and pleasing

A gentle trip across the centuries, meeting familiar characters at points along the way. History for the fireside, warm and comfortable.

[Malcolm H · Rating 5 out of 5]

A light read, interesting blend of history and fiction. History brought to life in an amusing way. I can't say if all the historical bits are actually fact but it makes for interesting reading.