Charles Spencer tells the shocking stories and fascinating fates of the men who signed Charles I's death warrant in this Sunday Times bestseller'Seamless, pacy and riveting ... exceptional' ALISON WEIR'The virtues of a thriller and of scholarship are potently combined' TOM HOLLAND'Outstanding: a thrilling tale of retribution and bloody sacrifice' JESSIE CHILDS__________________January, 1649. After seven years of fighting in the bloodiest war in Britain's history, Parliament faced a problem: what to do with a defeated king, a king who refused to surrender?Parliamentarians resolved to do the unthinkable, to disregard the Divine Right of Kings and hold Charles I to account for the appalling suffering and slaughter endured by his people. On an icy winter's day on a scaffold outside Whitehall, the King of England was executed.When the dead king's son, Charles II, was restored to the throne, he set about enacting a deadly wave of retribution against all those - the lawyers, the judges, the officers on the scaffold - responsible for his father's death. Bestselling historian Charles Spencer explores this violent clash of ideals through the individuals whose fates were determined by that one, momentous decision. A powerful tale of revenge from the dark heart of royal history and a fascinating insight into the dangers of political and religious allegiance in Stuart England, these are the shocking stories of the men who dared to kill a king.

本作は、歴史という名の真実を極上のサスペンスへと昇華させた傑作です。国王処刑という禁忌を犯した者たちが、王政復古による執念深い復讐に追い詰められていく様は、一級の娯楽小説を凌ぐ緊迫感を放っています。著者は冷徹な史実の奥に、信念に殉じた人間たちの剥き出しの葛藤を鮮烈に描き出しました。 正義の所在が時代によって覆る残酷な「政治の業」を問う点は、本作の文学的真髄です。運命の暗転に抗う者たちの悲劇的なまでの矜持は、歴史の闇に葬られた声なき叫びを現代に蘇らせ、読者の魂を激しく揺さぶります。歴史の深淵から響く復讐の足音に、知的好奇心は限界まで高まるはずです。