Cruel Necessity

By Oliver Woodman

England. 1600s. As the first of the battles of the English Civil War subside, the Souter family retreats to the family farm in Suffolk.

As Josiah Souter slowly recuperates from the shocks of war, his father John tends him, along with others of their community and beyond, who have been bereaved or traumatised by their wartime experiences. It seems that life is getting back to normal.

But it cannot last. The embers of the war flare again, and the country plunges once more into battle. For many at the farm, their friends and associates, the pull of war and their chosen cause is inescapable.

But even as they fight, there is land to manage, communities to sustain. And of course, there is the small matter of England’s future to be determined. As the battles rage, who will win their freedom and who will lose everything – both on the battlefield, and at home?

Cruel Necessity is a fast-paced and engaging story that gives readers a fascinating, detailed description of both the battlefield and domestic sphere at this crucial period in the UK’s history. With a cast of engaging characters it will appeal not only to fans of history and historic novels, but to anybody who enjoys an engaging and immersive tale.

Oliver Woodman‘s working life gave him a wonderful training in the written and spoken word. But history was always a great love, as was communicating its fascination. Immersion in the seventeenth century began with childhood lectures over Sunday lunch from his father. Apart from recreating a luxuriant historical texture, Oliver Woodman’s main achievement is to look at choices from different points of view and provide an insight into how attitudes and beliefs reflect the worlds into which we are born and live.

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