Two kings, Three young soldiers. One battle to end all battles. Eager to prove his courage and defend his family honour, young Irish noble Gerald O'Connor rides his warhorse Troy north in King James's cavalry. Brothers Robert and Daniel Sherrard march south from the once-besieged city of Derry with King William's army. The chosen field of battle – the Boyne – lies waiting, where victory will decide who rules the lands of England, and of Ireland. And the fighting will decide who survives the deadly game of war.
This historical YA novel is set in 1690 Ireland at the Battle of the Boyne. Two kings, three young soldiers. One battle to end all battles. Eager to prove his courage and defend his family honor, young Irish noble Gerald O'Connor rides his warhorse Troy north in King James's cavalry. Brothers Robert and Daniel Sherrard march south from the once-besieged city of Derry with King William's army. The chosen field of battle - the Boyne - lies waiting, where victory will decide who rules the lands of England, and of Ireland. And the fighting will decide who survives the deadly game of war.
The valley of the Boyne River lies pre-eminently in county Meath. The last seven miles of the river as it flows to the sea forms the border between Meath and Louth. Drogheda and Monasterboice, both in county Louth, are prominently treated by the author, as well as the many sites in county Meath.
ONE OF THE MOST TURBULENT REIGNS IN HISTORY PAVED THE WAY FOR THE FIRST MODERN REVOLUTION. AFTER THE TUDORS CAME THE STUARTS . . . If you enjoy S. J. Parris and Andrew Taylor, then this is the series you need to read next. August 25, 1689 The English Army is besieging Carrickfergus in Ireland. Brilliant but unusual gunner Holcroft Blood of the Royal Train of Artillery is ready to unleash his cannons on the rebellious forces of deposed Catholic monarch James II. But this is more than war for Captain Blood, a lust for private vengeance burns within him. French intelligence agent Henri d'Erloncourt has come across the seas to foment rebellion against William of Orange, the newly installed Dutch ruler of England, Scotland and Ireland. But Henri's true mission is not to aid the suffering of the Irish but to serve the interests of his master, Louis le Grand. Michael 'Galloping' Hogan, brigand, boozer and despoiler of Protestant farms, strives to defend his native land - and make a little profit on the side. But when he takes the Frenchman's gold, he suspects deep in his freedom-loving heart, that he has merely swapped one foreign overlord for another. July 1, 1690 On the banks of the River Boyne, on a fateful, scorching hot day, two armies clash in bloody battle - Protestant against Catholic - in an epic struggle for mastery of Ireland. And, when the slaughter is over and the smoke finally clears, for these three men, nothing will ever be the same again . . . 'Splendid series . . . a sword-and-spies romp that has a keen sense of the political pressures of the time' The Times 'A proper story-teller' S. G. MacLean
Circa 2200 BCE: Changes rocking the Continent reach Eire with the dawning Bronze Age. Well before any Celts, marauders invade the island seeking copper and gold. The young astronomer Boann and the enigmatic Cian need all their wits and courage to save their people and their great Boyne mounds, when long bronze knives challenge the peaceful native starwatchers. Banished to far coasts, Cian discovers how to outwit the invaders at their own game. Tensions on Eire between new and old cultures and between Boann, Elcmar, and her son Aengus, ultimately explode. What emerges from the rubble of battle are the legends of Ireland's beginnings in a totally new light.Larger than myth, this tale echoes with medieval texts, and cult heroes modern and ancient. By the final temporal twist, factual prehistory is bending into images of leprechauns who guard Eire's gold for eternity. As ever, the victors will spin the myths.This story appeals to fans of solid historical fiction, myth and fantasy, archaeo-astronomy, and Bronze Age Europe.BENDING THE BOYNE draws on 21st century archaeology to show the lasting impact when early metal mining and trade take hold along north Atlantic coasts. Carved megaliths and stunning gold artifacts, from the Pyrenees up to the Boyne, come to life in this researched historical fiction.
From the bestselling author of The Boy in the Striped Pajamas and "one of the most imaginative and adventurous of the young Irish novelists working today" (Irish Independent) comes John Boyne's Next of Kin. Boyne steps into the drawing rooms and private clubs of the prewar English aristocracy to offer an unobstructed view of a social elite driven by the conflicting desires to uphold tradition and to acquire vast wealth. It is 1936, and London is abuzz with gossip about the affair between Edward VIII and Mrs. Simpson. But the king is not the only member of the aristocracy with a hard decision to make. Owen Montignac, the handsome and charismatic scion of a wealthy family, is anxiously awaiting the reading of his late uncle's will, for Owen has run up huge gambling debts and casino boss Nicholas Delfy has given him a choice: Find 50,000 pounds by Christmas or find yourself six feet under. So when Owen discovers that he has been cut out of the will in favor of his cousin Stella, he finds that even a royal crisis can provide the means for profit, and for murder. Next of Kin vividly captures the spirit of 1930s London, revealing the secrets of the upperclass, complete with gambling, murder, an art heist, and a conspiracy to unseat the new king that could change the future of the country.
Ireland's Boyne Valley is an area of great historical importance, of fertile lands, ancient crosses, abbeys, castles and fine houses, a place where battles were fought and High Kings crowned. Its richly varied past is peopled with names such as St Patrick, Poynings, King William, Oliver Cromwell, Jonathan Swift, Lord Dunsany, Francis Ledwidge, and Admiral Francis Beaufort, deviser of the Beaufort Scale.
Imagine your home is bombed one Sunday afternoon by a horde of enemy planes. Imagine your family has gone and you are left behind. This is the fate of five-year-old Peter and two teenagers Yuri and Tanya. Imagine being ordered to leave school to fight the terrifying Nazis in WWII. Imagine you are right in the middle of a battle; it's you or them – you have no choice. This is the fate of Vlad and his three classmates. The battlefield is the city of Stalingrad, the pride of Russia. Germany's Adolf Hitler wants the city badly, but Josef Stalin refuses to let go. Nobody has managed to stop the triumphant Nazi invasion across Europe. It all depends on one city – Stalingrad – her citizens, her soldiers and her children.
The king is killed on a shadowy summer day—and his servant becomes an outlaw On an August day in 1100, King William II of England goes hunting. At the side of the notorious monarch is his loyal servant, Walter Tyrrell, who is ranked among the finest archers in the kingdom. Riding through the New Forest, the king is separated from his party. Tyrrell lets loose a shot at what he thinks is a passing stag, but his arrow buries itself in the king’s chest instead. When he realizes what he has done, Tyrrell escapes from the forest—and into the twilight of English legend. For nearly 1,000 years, scholars have debated whether or not Tyrrell intended to kill the king. In this rollicking novelization of that ancient tragedy, author Michael Cadnum imagines what might have happened to cause that fatal shot—and where the fugitive archer ran to next.
