The Bleeding Land

by Giles Kristian Book 1 in the Bleeding Land Trilogy series.

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4.2(1,924)

England, 1642. King Charles I and Parliament summon supporters as years of political and religious conflict become civil war. The Rivers are landed gentry whose tradition binds them to the Crown, and Sir Francis expects his sons to uphold that allegiance. Edmund accepts the Royalist cause, while his younger brother Tom rejects the assumptions that once held the family together. At Sheer House, those left behind must protect the estate while waiting for news from an increasingly violent country.

The story moves from the raising of the royal standard at Nottingham towards the Battle of Edgehill, placing the national rupture inside one household. Edmund and Tom encounter competing versions of honour, sacrifice and obedience as their chosen paths carry them further apart. Kristian balances battlefield action with the experience of a family discovering that neutrality, loyalty and survival can no longer be separated.