The Siege of Loyalty House

Book excerpt: **A 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 . . . This is the story of a home that became a warzone. Basing House in Hampshire saw one of the longest and bloodiest sieges of the English Civil War. Defended for over two years by artists and aristocrats, actors and apothecaries, women and children, it became a symbol of royalist defiance and a microcosm of the wider conflict. Drawing on unpublished manuscripts and the voices of dozens of soldiers and civilians, award-winning historian Jessie Childs weaves a thrilling tale of war and peace, terror and faith, savagery and civilization. __________ '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