num_pages: 227
description: London 1642.The King has fled London with the drums of war ringing in his ears. Across the country lines are being drawn and armies raised.Influential royalist Lady Carlisle switches sides and presses spice trader Thomas Tallant and his partner Elizabeth Seymour into Parliament's service.Soon Thomas faces double-dealing in his hunt for a lethal hoard of gunpowder hidden on the river while Elizabeth engages in a race against time to locate a hidden sniper picking off Parliamentary officers at will in the city.The capital also witnesses a vicious gang of jewel thieves take advantage of the citys chaos to go on the rampage smashing homes and shops leaving a trail of destruction in their wake. They hand pick their targets but refrain from selling any of their loot. There are more questions than answers.When war finally erupts Elizabeth is caught in the brutalising carnage of Edgehill while Thomas joins the Trained Bands in their defence of the city. As he mans the barricades at Brentford in a desperate rearguard action to repel Prince Ruperts surprise attack he realises the future of London rests in the hands of him and a few hundred troopers.Meanwhile Elizabeth believes she has identified the jewel thief and goes underground to trace his hoard.But all is not as it seems.
language: English
title: The Drums of War
publisher: Sharpe Books