Devil-LandThis dazzling, original and hugely engaging book tells the story of a nation in a state of near continual crisis. To many foreigner observers, 17th century England was 'Devil Land': a country riven by political faction, religious difference, financial ruin and royal collapse. As an unmarried heretic with no heir, Elizabeth I was regarded with horror by Catholic Europe, while her Stuart successors, James I and VI of Scotland and Charles I, were seen as

And yet something about her story is deeply amiss

unimaginable pressure

He has spent time with the Russians who struggle on in the harsh conditions of the taiga forest

happy life in West Africa as the privileged nine-year-old daughter of a government employee and stay-at-home mother

he might be forgiven for expecting the quiet life

the confirmed narcissist

000 volunteers from 52 countries around the world came to defend democracy against the troops of Franco

In the morning

crowded and grey

like so many others

he is given a map promising an unknown island

in flight from a life she could have led