Act of Oblivion: The Sunday Times Bestseller

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Meanwhile, Nayler is frantically searching for their whereabouts whilst dealing with the other 49 regicides. What follows is a monumental tour-de-force; a story that you will never forget. The men being hunted are Edward Whalley and his son-in-law William Goffe, both of whom had been colonels in Oliver Cromwell’s New Model Army, fighting for the Parliamentarians against Charles I’s Royalists. When that war ended in a Parliamentarian victory, Whalley and Goffe, along with fifty-seven other men, signed the death warrant that led to the king’s execution. Oliver Cromwell then ruled as Lord Protector of England, Scotland and Ireland until his death in 1658. He’s done a marvelous job of this. Whalley, Goffe and Nayler are vividly drawn, their decisions and actions consistent with the worldviews he has created for them. The arc of the story is well designed, with the focus shifting between New England and London, where Goffe’s wife (Whalley’s daughter) is the primary focus. A fictional memoir drafted by Whalley is an excellent device for filling in details about Cromwell’s rise - and fall. Issued just weeks after Meyler’s post, Judge Bolton’s decision adheres to this line of reasoning. 42 Open this footnote Close this footnote 42 See United States v. Arpaio, No. CR-16-01012-001-PHX-SRB, 2017 WL 4839072 (D. Ariz. Oct. 19, 2017). … Open this footnote Close It states: “The power to pardon is an executive prerogative of mercy, not of judicial record-keeping.” 43 Open this footnote Close this footnote 43 Id. at *2 (quoting United States v. Noonan, 906 F.2d 952, 955 (3d Cir. 1990)). … Open this footnote Close To grant the defendant’s request to vacate all rulings in the case, it continues, “would run afoul of this important distinction.” 44 Open this footnote Close this footnote 44 Id. … Open this footnote Close The court concludes: “The pardon undoubtedly spared Defendant from any punishment that might otherwise have been imposed. It did not, however, ‘revise the historical facts’ of this case.” 45 Open this footnote Close this footnote 45 Id. (quoting 67A C.J.S. Pardon & Parole § 33 (2019)). … Open this footnote Close

VI. The like by reason of any Commission by the late or present King, or by Colour of any Ordinance of one or both Houses of Parliament, or the late Protector, &c. The best historical fiction combines a gripping plot with meticulous research - leaving the reader inspired to learn more about the real-life protagonists. And the latest release from Robert Harris once more proves his mastery of the genre * Soldier * Like in An Officer and a Spy, Robert Harris has taken a little known historical episode and written a lengthy novel about it - and, like that other novel, Act of Oblivion is unfortunately really boring.The Indemnity and Oblivion Act 1660 was an Act of the Parliament of England ( 12 Cha. 2. c. 11), the long title of which is " An Act of Free and General Pardon, Indemnity, and Oblivion". [1] This act was a general pardon for everyone who had committed crimes during the English Civil War and subsequent Commonwealth period, with the exception of certain crimes such as murder (without a licence granted by King or Parliament), piracy, buggery, rape and witchcraft, and people named in the act such as those involved in the regicide of Charles I. It also said that no action was to be taken against those involved at any later time, and that the Interregnum was to be legally forgotten. [2] History [ edit ] To return to the early modern context, recall two mages who famously renounced their grimoires in diametrically opposed ways. At the end of Marlowe’s Dr. Faustus, Faustus promises to “burn [his] books” 59 Open this footnote Close this footnote 59 Christopher Marlowe, Doctor Faustus (B-Text), act 5, sc. 3, ll. 184-85 (David Scott Kastan ed., W.W. Norton & Co. 2005) (1616) (“Ugly hell, gape not! Come not, Lucifer!; / I’ll burn my books!”). … Open this footnote Close in lieu of being carried off to hell. At the end of Shakespeare’s Tempest, Prospero promises to “drown [his] book.” 60 Open this footnote Close this footnote 60 William Shakespeare, The Tempest, act V, sc. 1, ll. 54-57 (Virginia Mason Vaughan & Alden T. Vaughan eds., Arden Shakespeare 1999) (“I’ll break my staff, / Bury it certain fathoms in the earth, / And deeper than did ever plummet sound / I’ll drown my book.”). … Open this footnote Close These two images—the burning book and the drowning book—conjure different models of censorship. The burning book can be seen as the direct interdiction—the destruction of the speech itself. The drowning book is a figure for the indirect quelling of speech—not by denying the speech existence but drowning it out with other speech. Another fantastic piece of historical fiction from Robert Harris, immaculately researched and utterly believable * IPU Review * Carpenter is not alone in stressing the dangers here—dangers which grew exponentially after Trump was elected President. Consider a recent Washington Post column by Eugene Robinson titled “Trump apparently thinks he’s a master at gaslighting.” 56 Open this footnote Close this footnote 56 Eugene Robinson, Trump Apparently Thinks He’s a Master at Gaslighting, Wash. Post (Oct. 3, 2019, 2:00 PM PDT), https://perma.cc/VLA5-R6SY. … Open this footnote Close Robinson opens by saying: “President Trump’s call with the Ukrainian president was an impeachable abuse of power. I repeat: President Trump’s call with the Ukrainian president was an impeachable abuse of power. Once again, President Trump’s call with the Ukrainian president was an impeachable abuse of power.” 57 Open this footnote Close this footnote 57 Id. … Open this footnote Close Robinson makes no apology for the repetition, as he finds it necessary to counteract the equally insistent repetition of falsehoods spoken and tweeted by the President. 58 Open this footnote Close this footnote 58 See id. … Open this footnote Close

The novel begins in America, with the protagonists (or antagonists depending on your viewpoint) Colonel Whalley and Colonel Goffe arriving to stay with Puritan supporters. They are haggard after weeks at sea and still reeling from their loss, and the separation of their families. I seriously enjoyed listening to this book. My only negative comment is that it was perhaps a little too long, as I did find my interest and attention wane during the mid stages of the narration. A few days of listening to several other, less note-worthy titles, ensued and I was ready to resume listening to Act of Oblivion to the end. XXXII. Persons that have had directions or instructions for his Majesty, and have betrayed their trust, or his councils excepted. A gripping thriller and a timely reminder of the dangers of a deeply divided and intolerant society * The Shropshire Magazine *

Beyond the Book

In his newest book, Act of Oblivion, author Robert Harris crafts an epic of historical fiction, weaving together a tale of pursuit, betrayal, and madness. The novel’s title refers to an act passed by the British Parliament that granted a general pardon to all those who committed crimes during the British Civil War, except for those who had committed treason by involving themselves in the execution of King Charles I. Few writers combine history, politics and excitement of a thriller as enthrallingly as Robert Harris does. * Sunday Times * The stuff about the new settlements in America was the most interesting part for me, although Harris dragged it out for far too long. He assumes people will know the basic history of Cromwell and the Restoration, and puts no political element into the plot. I felt that more concentration on the Restoration and less on these two runaways would have given scope for more interest. There’s only so much you can say about two men hiding in a barn, or a cellar, or an attic, or even the wilderness.