Uncivil War: Twin tales from Nottinghamshire

 These twin tales follow the raising of the King’s Standard at Nottingham Castle in 1642, through to 1646, when King Charles surrended to the Scottish army outside Newark. 

Set in Nottinghamshire, Uncivil War tells the story of five children caught in the conflict of the English Civil War. Tom, a stable boy; his sister Meg, a maidservant at Pierrepoint Hall; Nick, who never wanted to be a soldier; Jed, who did but later regrets it; and Alice, who is left to help run a refuge for victims. 

Seen through the eyes of innocent children, Uncivil War depicts the characters’ initial excitement at the thought of conflict but later hating the war and questioning the need for it at all. This book highlights the struggles children may face during wartime, as well as the lessons that still need to be learnt. 

While all the children are fictitious, the main adult characters are based on real people who lived in the county of Nottinghamshire at the time. This book gives a modern take to novels such as Marriott’sChildren of the New Forest.