num_pages: 63
description: The Highwayman Book Two Masterful storytelling... Michael Arnold has forged together a hero and plot which will please his current fans and doubtless win over some new ones too. - Richard Foreman. December 1655. The nation is reeling from the turmoil of bloody civil war the forces of King Charles have been utterly defeated and England is now in the iron grip of Oliver Cromwell's Protectorate. Major Samson Lyle once a member of Cromwells Roundhead army and now the infamous outlaw Ironside Highwayman has been forced into exile. Scarred by the massacre of innocents in Ireland he turned his back on the all-conquering English army but in retaliation his beloved wife Alice was tracked down and killed. Spurred on by revenge Lyle is now the predator not the prey. The most feared highwayman in all England he hunts quarry on the nations roads. Any who performed the duties of a cog in Cromwells grand machine is under threat. Along with his trusted young ward Bella and Eustace Grumm an irascible former smuggler Lyle has dodged the ever-present threat of capture but now it is time to bring the fight to his enemies. With a brilliant scheme to bring the army to its knees Lyle must find a way to destroy his pursuers before they destroy him. ' Winter Swarm' is a thrilling novella which blends together action and intrigue. It follows on from  Ironside. Praise for Michael 'You can smell the gunpowder and hear the cannon fire . . . Arnold's passion for the period suffuses every page' - Robyn Young author of the Brethren trilogy. Read this book for historical entertainment backed by extensive research of the time we and you will not be disappointed. Every major scene is based on fact the feeling of the atrocious weather of the period the fierce brutality of civil war and the fervour of both sides is apparent on virtually every page. I am certainly going to get the first book and am pleased that Mr Arnold has promised Captain Stryker will return. - John Ruse English Civil War Society Captain Stryker is a character well able to attract readers on his own merits.... Many of the most famous engagements of the civil war are still to come and the enigmatic Strykers involvement in them promises much entertainment. - Nick Rennison The Sunday Times Captures the grittiness as well as the doomed glamour of the Royalist cause. - Charles Spencer author of 'Prince The Last Cavalier' Michael Arnold's interest in British history is lifelong and childhood holidays were spent visiting castles and battlefields. He became a Sharpe junkie at the age of 13 and his particular fascination with the seventeenth century was piqued partly by the fact that his hometown Petersfield is steeped in the history of the period. Michael is the bestselling author of 'Traitor's Blood' and 'Assassin's Reign'. He is also the author of the short story 'Stryker' and 'The Angels of Death'.
language: English
title: Highwayman: Winter Swarm
publisher: Endeavour Press