"The Image of the King is a thrilling tale of the Civil Wars' battle for hearts and minds. Through the eyes of King Charles I and the failing eyesight of John Milton, we watch politics and propaganda slide out of control until lives and afterlives lie on the line. Impeccably researched and engagingly told, The Image of the King will entertain and educate in equal measure." Miranda Malins, author of The Rebel Daughter.
England, 1648.
King Charles I is a prisoner on the Isle of Wight. He has lost the civil wars. He now stands to lose his head.
Escape is imperative - but it seems increasingly impossible.
No one proves more enterprising than the king's spy-mistress Jane Whorwood. Yet no one poses more of a threat to his image as a family man.
The plot against Charles soon takes a new and elaborate turn. For the first time in history, a head of state will be impeached by his own subjects and put on trial for his life. But how can a king possibly be tried for treason?
John Milton watches as the coup d’etat unfolds. Betrayed by former allies, Milton is determined never to get involved in politics again.
So is it providence or a mere conspiracy of circumstances when his cousin John Bradshaw is appointed the King’s Judge?
Oliver Cromwell has decided on Bradshaw. But he has also decided on Milton. A writer is needed to reconcile the nation to regicide and reply to the royal memoir The Image of the King.
As the propaganda wars intensify toward their tragic climax, the monarch is not the only one in mortal danger. Belatedly Milton discovers just how far the royalists will go to defeat their opponents.
Julie Maxwell’s fiction has won numerous accolades including the Betty Trask Award. For many years she taught Milton at Oxford. The Image of the King is the first book in a political thriller series set in Stuart times.
Praise for The Image of the King:
'An intricately organised, subtly ironic perspective on a tumultuous historical period' Craig Raine.
Genre: Historical
England, 1648.
King Charles I is a prisoner on the Isle of Wight. He has lost the civil wars. He now stands to lose his head.
Escape is imperative - but it seems increasingly impossible.
No one proves more enterprising than the king's spy-mistress Jane Whorwood. Yet no one poses more of a threat to his image as a family man.
The plot against Charles soon takes a new and elaborate turn. For the first time in history, a head of state will be impeached by his own subjects and put on trial for his life. But how can a king possibly be tried for treason?
John Milton watches as the coup d’etat unfolds. Betrayed by former allies, Milton is determined never to get involved in politics again.
So is it providence or a mere conspiracy of circumstances when his cousin John Bradshaw is appointed the King’s Judge?
Oliver Cromwell has decided on Bradshaw. But he has also decided on Milton. A writer is needed to reconcile the nation to regicide and reply to the royal memoir The Image of the King.
As the propaganda wars intensify toward their tragic climax, the monarch is not the only one in mortal danger. Belatedly Milton discovers just how far the royalists will go to defeat their opponents.
Julie Maxwell’s fiction has won numerous accolades including the Betty Trask Award. For many years she taught Milton at Oxford. The Image of the King is the first book in a political thriller series set in Stuart times.
Praise for The Image of the King:
'An intricately organised, subtly ironic perspective on a tumultuous historical period' Craig Raine.
Genre: Historical
Used availability for Julie Maxwell's The Image of the King